‘Mistake in Judgment’ : Reiner Reduces Bite for Theft of Bologna

Angered by the filing of a felony charge against a man accused of stealing a $1.49 package of bologna, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner on Thursday ordered a reduction of the charge to a misdemeanor and set an office policy of not filing felony charges against people accused of stealing small amounts of food.

Reiner told Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven D. Ogden late Wednesday afternoon that “thefts of small amounts of food will not be prosecuted in general as felonies,” even if there are prior petty-theft convictions, said Al Albergate, spokesman for the district attorney’s office.

Albergate described Reiner’s action as “a new policy.”

Leonard James Hazlett, 38, a transient who said he stole the meat from a Sylmar grocery because he had not eaten in two days, will be charged with a misdemeanor if he pleads guilty under an agreement worked out Thursday.

In a letter to the editor of The Times dated July 8, Reiner said the decision to prosecute Hazlett as a felon was “a mistake in judgment.”

“A theft involving $1.49 that does not involve an act of violence clearly and simply does not require or deserve a state prison sentence,” Reiner stated in the letter, which explains that deputy district attorneys have the option under California law of treating petty-theft cases “as felonious conduct” or misdemeanors.

Reiner “corrected the situation” and set the new policy after conferring with his staff Tuesday, Albergate said.

Hazlett was being prosecuted as a felon because he had at least three previous convictions for petty theft, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jacquelyn P. Lacey said. He would have faced up to three years in state prison if he had been convicted of the felony charge.

If Hazlett accepts the plea bargain, he could be sentenced by San Fernando Superior Court Judge Joyce Kennard to up to one year in County Jail, Deputy Public Defender Gerald T. Richardson said.

‘Wonderful Idea’

Richardson said he believes Hazlett will accept the offer at his arraignment in San Fernando Superior Court today. Hazlett previously rejected an offer from the district attorney’s office to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor because the deal carried a mandatory sentence of one year in County Jail, Richardson said.

“I think this policy is a wonderful idea,” Richardson said. “I never felt there should be any other disposition in this case.”

Ogden, who called Hazlett “a career criminal” in an interview Tuesday, said he was following orders when he made the offer to reduce the charge. Ogden said he plans to pin above his desk a newspaper clipping of a headline that reads “just following orders,” which accompanied a story on fired White House aide Oliver L. North.

“I would agree that we shouldn’t prosecute people who are hungry for small amounts of food, except I think Mr. Hazlett spends his money on drugs and is not entitled to say he has to steal to eat,” Ogden said.

In a jail interview Tuesday, Hazlett said he began stealing after graduating from high school when he became addicted to heroin and, later, alcohol and cocaine.

Hazlett, whom fellow prisoners call “Pops” because of his white-streaked hair, has served time in County Jail for petty thefts of items ranging from a case of cigarettes to a pair of pants.

Cornel Wilde, an actor who was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Chopin in the 1945 film “A Song To Remember,” sent Hazlett a check for $50 after reading that he might go to state prison for three years.