Judges Will Be Giving Fewer Chances to Young Criminals : Courts: New laws reduce the likelihood that defendants will be sentenced to the California Youth Authority.

SANTA ANA —  He had a minor criminal record. His attorney said he suffered from brain damage. But the prosecutor said 17-year-old Miguel Camarena of Santa Ana was a gang member bent on a deadly form of “pay-back” when he killed a rival’s brother in 1993.

Abraham Acosta also had no criminal record and was also said to suffer from brain damage. He was just 16 when he took a key role in the 1992 bludgeoning of an honors student: Acosta helped dig the victim’s grave in Acosta’s own back yard, struck the first blow and accepted $100 for his labor.

Both Camarena and Acosta were tried as adults. Both were convicted of first-degree murder. Yet Camarena was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, while Acosta was sentenced to six years in the California Youth Authority.

These cases and others illustrate the latitude that has been given judges in sentencing youths gone horribly wrong. But several laws that went into effect Jan. 1 drastically restrict such discretion, and some say it signals a disturbing trend away from granting troubled kids a second chance.

“We are caring less and less about what happens to these kids, and that is very sad,” said Deputy Public Defender Denise Gragg, who represents Acosta and contends his CYA sentence will help turn him into a law-abiding citizen. “Society has a general responsibility to children, and I think we have been forgetting that over the past 10 to 20 years.”

In the past, judges had the power to sentence young convicts to the California Youth Authority, where they would be released by their 25th birthday regardless of their crimes or sentences.

But a package of new laws that went into effect says juveniles now must serve the full penalty for their crimes. As a result, young defendants who face lengthy sentences may be housed at the CYA only until they can be placed safely in prison to serve the remainder of their term.

If Acosta committed his crimes today, for example, he would face life in prison without the possibility of parole, instead of freedom at age 25.

Another law now allows teen-agers as young as 14 to be tried as adults. Previously, only teen-agers 16 or over could be so tried.

Irwin Nowick, a senior consultant for state Sen. Steve Peace (D-Chula Vista), who helped author the package of new laws, said the changes were motivated by a public fed up with juvenile crime and skeptical of rehabilitation efforts.

“It acknowledges that there are those we can save, and those who are incorrigible predators to whom we are saying ‘That’s it, you’re out of here,” Nowick said.

Gragg disagrees that the system should give up on kids.

“So much of the rest of the system is set on punishment, locking people up in jail or prison. The CYA has always been about the possibility of helping turn lives around,” she said. “It’s one of the only places where you have some real hope.”

But many say juvenile justice law is too lenient and does not recognize the violent nature of today’s young criminals. In a recent high-profile case, two 18-year-olds were sentenced to the CYA after being convicted of second-degree murder for participating in a beach melee where a youth was speared through the head with a paint-roller rod.

Hector Penuelas and Jose Perez Bonilla faced at least 15 years to life in prison, but will instead be released from the CYA within seven years. If the killing occurred today, the young men wouldn’t be eligible for parole for at least 15 years.

A third defendant in the same case, at another judge’s discretion, was sentenced to 26 years to life in prison.

Kathy Woods, the victim’s mother, is so outraged by the sentences of Penuelas and Bonilla she plans to launch a recall campaign against Judge Everett W. Dickey. Woods said she fully supports the new legislation.

“Why are we coddling people who are 18?” she said. “These are adults who commit horrible, horrible crimes and we are coddling them. There is something very, very wrong with that.”

Francisco Alarcon, acting director of the Sacramento-based CYA, disagrees.

“Most of these kids will some day return to the community, and whether it’s literacy or job skills (learned at the CYA), they will one day use them.”

The CYA consists of statewide incarceration facilities for youths as young as 11. Of the 296 Orange County inmates currently at CYA, 66.2% were sent there for serious or violent crimes ranging from murder to sex crimes to gang activity. About 69% of CYA’s total population is in custody for violent crimes.

CYA operates on a budget of $395 million a year and it costs $32,000 a year to house a juvenile there, compared with roughly $20,000 to house a prison inmate.

But half the time the CYA doesn’t change criminal behavior. It records a 50% return rate for the 15,000 youths under its jurisdiction statewide. Alarcon still sees hope in those figures.

“It would be easy to be discouraged because half of the youth return to us or return to prison . . . but the fact that half of our youth return to society as productive citizens means that we are doing something right for that segment of the population,” he said.

CYA workers evaluate defendants before sentencing and decide whether CYA programs could benefit them. The sentencing judge makes the final call. The Youthful Offender Parole Board decides when a young defendant is ready for release. First-degree murderers stay an average of 79.6 months, while the average felons stay an average of 23.8 months. according to CYA statistics.

In a 1994 study, the Little Hoover Commission in Sacramento, which serves as a watchdog for state agencies, commended CYA for its rehabilitation programs and strict policies. But the study also found that budgetary problems and overcrowding undermine the CYA’s effectiveness and contribute to violence.

Still, CYA officials say they do the best they can to teach job skills and personal responsibility and try to modify bad behavior.

A key program is an eight-week Victim Awareness class, where wards are confronted by relatives of crime victims, including murdered ones.

“It has an impact on them; it really makes them see things differently,” said Larry McGuire, assistant school superintendent in Stockton and a CYA staffer of nearly 30 years.

CYA inmates must attend school and some must undergo counseling programs. Programs include conservation camps to teach firefighting work, and job training with private businesses operating inside the institution. Part of the inmate’s salary covers victim’s restitution and incarceration costs.

It remains to be seen what impact the new laws will have on juvenile justice. Defense attorneys say the judge’s discretion did not always work in their favor, but say it is better than hard and fast rules.

“I think you need that kind of discretion, especially when you’re dealing with young lives,” said Deputy Public Defender James Appel, who represented Camarena. “If you don’t give them a chance, you’re basically giving up.”

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Going to CYA

The number of Orange County defendants sentenced in 1994 to a stay with the California Youth Authority dropped to its lowest level since 1990, reversing a three-year trend: 1994: 124 ***

Staying the Course

The average stay at a CYA facility is a little less than two years and considerably shorter for those who have committed misdemeanors. Average stay in months: Overall: 23.5 Men: 23.5 Women: 24.7 Felony: 23.8 Misdemeanor: 10.4 ***

A Preponderance of Males

The CYA is a nearly exclusively male province, with most in their older teens. A population profile of Youth Authority offenders in custody as of June 30, 1994: Sex Male: 97% Female: 3% Age 15 and younger: 6% 16-17: 30% 18-20: 53% 21 and older: 11% Race Whites: 15% Latinos: 44% Blacks: 33% Asians: 5% Other: 3% Crime Assault: 24% Robbery: 22% Homicide: 13% Burglary: 12% Drugs: 8% Other*: 21% * Includes 2% for rape

Source: California Youth Authority

Researched by RENE LYNCH / Los Angeles Times