Sheriff balks at political consultant’s light child-porn sentence
Sheriff balks at political consultant’s light child-porn sentence
High-profile political consultant Enrique Pearce hit a last-minute roadblock Wednesday in his attempt to avoid jail time in San Francisco for possessing child pornography:
Sheriff Vicki Hennessy is balking at enforcing a portion of the agreement that Pearce cut with a judge to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of six months of home detention.
People convicted of child pornography, perpetrators of domestic violence and some other categories of criminals don’t qualify for electronic monitoring in San Francisco, under Sheriff’s Department policies.
The judge may check a box on a sentencing document indicating an alternative sentence to jail is approved, but the jail ultimately has the authority for protecting public safety and determining the most appropriate sentence for an individual.
Pearce, whose past clients included Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisors Norman Yee and Jane Kim, pleaded guilty in December to two counts of distributing child pornography, one count of buying or receiving stolen property, and one count of possession or control of child pornography, with allegations of possessing more than 600 images of someone under 18 and possessing matter that portrayed sexual sadism or sexual masochism involving someone under 18, according to court documents.
Navarro, a retired Santa Clara County judge temporarily assigned to San Francisco Superior Court, raised eyebrows when he accepted Pearce’s guilty plea over prosecutors’ objections.
The court eventually ruled that judges can’t bargain directly with defendants, but can resolve a case by telling a defendant what the sentence would be if he pleads guilty to all charges.