A double-edged sword?
By By Suzanne Monk / managing editor
May 8, 2003
File this under "the rest of the story. A front-page item about former Meridian police officer Don Morgan in Wednesday's edition provoked almost immediate comment.
In May 2002, Morgan was found in his police cruiser in what Police Chief Benny DuBose described as a "disoriented" state.
Morgan worked with a drug dog and was on duty at the time. A search of his car, DuBose said, turned up several bottles of unauthorized narcotics and drug paraphernalia.
Investigators checked the contents of a police safe where illegal drugs were stored, drugs used to train K9 officers. Some of the drugs were missing. More illegal drugs were found in a subsequent search of Morgan's home in Clarke County.
Morgan was arrested and lost his job at the Meridian Police Department.
The former officer was indicted in February 2003 in Clarke County for possession of methamphetamine, Darvocet and phenobarbital. He pleaded guilty Tuesday, before Circuit Judge Robert Bailey, to possession of methamphetamine. The other two counts against him were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
Why people reacted
The story excited a response because Morgan received a five-year, suspended, non-adjudicated sentence.
What this means is that he will not be jailed, but rather will serve a probationary period equal to the length of his suspended sentence. If he completes his probation, without violating any of its conditions, he can petition the court to expunge his record.
Many people felt that, because Morgan was a police officer and a guardian of the public trust, he should have been sentenced to some jail time.
Anticipating the questions the story would provoke, we tried Tuesday afternoon to reach District Attorney Bilbo Mitchell for comment, to ask him what the rationale for the plea agreement was.
Mitchell did return the phone call on Wednesday morning after the press was already running. But, I spoke with him and here's what he said.
How it works: Non-adjudication
Mitchell said a non-adjudicated sentence is a double-edged sword. And, he's right about that.
With a standard suspended sentence, if you violate the terms of your probation and get caught, the worst that can happen to you is being sent to prison to serve the original suspended sentence.
Non-adjudicated sentences work differently.
The potential rewards for the defendant are greater. If he completes his probation successfully, and his record is expunged, he ends up with no criminal history. Like it never happened.
But, the dangers are greater as well.
If you receive a non-adjudicated sentence and violate your probation, it's not just the original suspended sentence you have to worry about. If a non-adjudicated defendant messes up his probation, he can be sentenced to the maximum for his offense in Morgan's case, 16 years.
Mitchell also said his decision was influenced by the fact that the plea bargain was acceptable to local narcotics officers.
I understand why people reacted badly to the news. It feels to many like Morgan "got off."
On the other hand, it is not unusual to see non-adjudicated sentences for first-time drug offenders especially in cases where the charge is possession, not sale.
I'm not here to convince you that the district attorney was right or wrong. I'm just telling you what he said. You can decide about right and wrong yourselves.
