Sentence-Reduction Hearing Is Allowed

D.C. Man Got Life Term In Police Officer's Death

A man who was sentenced to life in prison after he admitted taking part in the murder of a D.C. police officer is entitled to a hearing on whether his sentence should be reduced because of errors made by the then-Prince George's County judge who presided over the case, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled last week.

The 18-page decision by the state's highest court means Donovan S. Strickland, 40, of the District will get the hearing he sought nearly four years ago.

"It's rough," said Oliver Smith, father of Oliver Smith Jr., the 28-year-old officer who was robbed and shot to death in the parking lot of his Forestville apartment complex by Strickland and two other men in February 1997.

A year later, a Prince George's jury convicted Strickland of robbery with a deadly weapon and a handgun violation but deadlocked on the murder charge. In March 1998, he pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced by Richard H. Sothoron Jr. to life in prison.

Under Maryland law, people convicted of crimes can ask a judge, typically the one who sentenced them, to reduce their sentence. Such hearings often occur with little or no public attention.

In November 2005, Sothoron took the bench to preside over a hearing in which Strickland and his attorney, Michael S. Blumenthal, sought a sentence reduction. About 40 D.C. police officers, including then-Chief Charles H. Ramsey and his command staff, packed the courtroom to oppose a reduction in Strickland's sentence.

Within minutes, the hearing took an unexpected twist. The prosecutor and Blumenthal joined forces in asking Sothoron to schedule a separate hearing to determine whether he had already agreed to reduce Strickland's sentence.

Blumenthal said at the hearing that when Strickland agreed to plead guilty in 1998, Sothoron had promised to reduce the sentence from life in prison and suspend all but 50 years. That would have given Strickland an opportunity for a parole hearing after serving about half of his sentence.

John Maloney, at the time an assistant state's attorney in Prince George's, told Sothoron that a separate hearing would have to be held to determine whether Sothoron had agreed to reduce the sentence.

"You cannot be both the judge and a witness," Maloney said.

Sothoron objected. State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D), who was in the courtroom, rose from his seat and approached Sothoron's bench. After a brief discussion, the hearing was adjourned. Sothoron later announced that the matter was being continued at the direction of Chief Administrative Judge William D. Missouri.

Missouri assigned Circuit Court Judge Michael P. Whalen to preside over a hearing at which Sothoron would be a witness. That hearing was scheduled for February 2006.