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Show Tribune she AS UTAH/NATION Monday, July 28, 2003 where hundreds of yellow-shirted Fahm Gong protesters kneel in formation and Garcia Miramontes gave chase and fired at the vehicle Mauney was in be that Parker was “not officially em Parker was in ployed when murd fore spinning outin the median, stealing carandtieeing his personal vehicle on way towork LaRouche pamphleteers and street Based on witness descriptions provided by Mauney and others, and the Mauney subsequently sued the Postal Servicein federal court over the preachers provide a daily display of America’s First Amendment freedoms. abandoned auto,police arrested Garcia. denial, but his case was dismissed A And when the occasional tour group Service's sponsorship of a cycling team in the Tour de France. “They spend $30 million a year on a bicycle team in Eu rope, but they won't give me what I deserve.” Miramontes and in 1996 he was sen tenced to at least 45 years prison in 1998. The U.S. Postal Service has a stan dard $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of an unlawful killer of a postal employee self-described good Samaritan, Mauney bristles at any suggestion that his de mand for a reward may be viewed as ih. Anybody that’s against me getting this reward is selfish themselves, because they wouldn't have pulled up arid member informs Mauney thathis flag is ‘ide down, he is glad to explain the reason, pulling out documents, lami nated newspaper articles, even a screenplay pitch. Afterall, he hasthe stories. “I was just telling the guards here at Mauney was a passenger ina pickup truck that came upon the early morning “while engaged inor on accountof the performance of their official duties. tried tohelp,”hesays. “They'resayinga post office employee's life isn’t worth a the Capitol, if theycan do this toa postal worker, what about the reward if one of crime scene where 2-year-old Jose Garcia-Miramontes gunned down Lee Wayne Parker in a fit of drug-induced road rage six years ago in May. Mauney applied for the reward after Garcia Miramontes conviction, but in 1999 the Office of the Chief Postal In spector denied the claim, determ plug nickel. They ought to just take those rewardnotices off the wall.” It’s not necessarily a cause that resonates up and down the National Mall, them gets killed?” said Mauney. “Once people know the facts of this case, they usually agree with me.” csmith@sitrib.com De | erie ied a a reward, mied . . Utahn rides abike Al wed from Cc aman om Al 4 when he was killed a menagerie of panhandlers, Lyndon Cassell asserts judge's night to cut sentences © Continued from Al in appropriate cases. “This could leadto criminal defendants serving unduly long prison terms (not to mention in appropriately consuming valu able federal prison space that should be reserved for other offenders),” the judge, knownas a law-and-order type, said in his opinion. In addition, Cassell said suggestions have been circulating that jurists might be intimidated by a provision in an amendment to a recent congressional bill that requires the attorney general to submit a report to the House and Senate Judiciary committees within 15 days whenevera federal trial judge grants a reduction. | During the debate this past spring over the amendment, one senator argued that the requirement would create a “black list” of judges whodisplease the Justice Department. Implementation of the report. ing provision has been delayed and it may neverbe put into ef fect. But whatever happens, Cassell appears to be unruffled, pointing out that all rulings, including those that lessen or in- crease a term, already are matters of public record. “This court's sentencing deci sions, for example, areall easily available both in the court's public files and on an internet Web site, www.utd.uscourts. gov,” he wrote. “In any event, since the suggestion has been raised, this court wishes to observe that it is not concerned about close scrutiny of its downward (or upward) departure decisions by Congress, the public, or otherwise.” On April 10, Congress ap- proved a provision called the Feeney Amendment, named after U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney (R. A : . in Fla.), that places limitations on sentence reductions. Federal judges follow sentencing guide lines when meting out & punishment but are allowed to “depart” under certain circum stances if they feel a lighter or tougher sentence would be more { Just. | During the debate over the amendment, somelegal andcivil | rights groups argued that the | measure would take away too muchdiscretion from judges and stop them from considering individual circumstances. Cassell disagrees, writing that the Feeney Amendment is narrower than originally proposed and af. fects only child abduction and sex offense cases. Salt Lake City defense attor ney Stephen McCaughey said that lawyers are asking for lower terms whenever it is appropriate because federal sentencing guidelines are sostrict. “Departure is the only way oe T R U L Y F R E E C ¢ E i K i N G you can avoid those horrendous sentences,” hesaid. Mark Moffat, another Salt Lake City defenseattorney, said there is a false perception that judges frequently handoutlight terms, However, judges seldom grant reductions and when they do,it is for good reasons, he said, “No judge should ever bé faulted or called on the carpet for matter what your balance, no direct deposit requirement and no per-check added Moffat, who is past presi charges. That's no hiddenfees, period. Reject fakery. Go to any Washington Mutual, for a judge to reduce a sentence,” URINE teWrint is "aa rans dled Carpat i } reducing a sentence because there are valid and legitimate reasons dent of the Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. one then nail you with monthly fees. 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