`3 STRIKES' CONVICTS COULD GET PRISON TERMS SHORTENED.

Byline: Andy Furillo Scripps-McClatchy Western Service

Somewhere deep within the California prison system, an inmate named Daniel Gonzalez Lopez has to be smiling broadly.

Lopez, 38, last year was sentenced under the state's ``three-strikes, you're out'' law to a term of 28 years to life for possession of 0.639 grams of marijuana while incarcerated in the Fresno County Jail.

Now, he could see his sentence reduced to a maximum of eight years, if he is not outright released, thanks to the state Supreme Court decision Thursday that gave sentencing discretion back to judges in three-strikes cases.

Fresno Superior Court Judge Dwayne Keyes had strongly suggested at the time of sentencing that he didn't like the prospect of dropping the hammer on Lopez's long-term future.

``You know, the curious thing is, Mr. Lopez is going to be in a cell sitting next to some individual who is in there for murder and (who) will probably get out long before (Lopez) gets out,'' Keyes said.

The judge pleaded with Lopez's attorney to ``find a way out for me, aside from just violating the law myself.'' He called the prospective term ``cruel and unusual punishment,'' and he chided the Fresno County District Attorney's Office for filing ``absurd cases'' under the three-strikes law.

But, said Keyes, ``I have no choice but to dance the tune. That is outrageous.''

The unanimous decision by the state's high court, however, gives sentencing discretion back to judges such as Keyes, who had said they lacked the authority under the 1994 three-strikes law to ``strike strikes,'' on their own motion, in the interest of justice.

Keyes could not be reached for comment, and it remains to be seen whether he will resentence Lopez if the inmate files the expected writ. Lopez had prior convictions for burglary and robbery.

Lopez's appellate lawyer, Madeline McDowell, said she will do everything she can to give the judge the chance to dance to another tune.

``The way I read the (Supreme Court) opinion, Mr. Lopez has an absolute right to get back to the trial court, to have the trial court exercise its discretion,'' she said.

Before the new opinion was issued, 1,655 prisoners with two or more prior serious or violent felonies had been sentenced to terms of 25 years-to-life on their third felony under the three-strikes law. Another 17,080 with only a single prior ``strike'' had their sentences doubled.

All of them are entitled to seek resentencing.

``This decision is going to affect thousands of cases,'' McDowell said. ``It will afford relief to those offenders who no one thinks should be serving 25 to life - for stealing a steak or having a joint. On those kinds of things, I think those people will see some relief. I think they'll see it pretty soon.''

Those already sentenced under three strikes are looking backward for a second chance, and thousands of ex-convicts arrested on new charges now have entirely new and better prospects in front of them.

One of them is Waymon Miles, 32, of Stanislaus County. He has three prior burglary convictions and was recently arrested for possession of crack. He faces 25 years to life if convicted, but now has the hope that a judge will strike two or more of his prior convictions.

``Oh, man, that's good news,'' said his mother, Juanita Miles. ``I just didn't know what they were going to do, it was so depressing. He's a good kid, but he just got strung out the wrong way, got with the wrong kind of people.''