By Leslie Eaton Source: New York Times As a new law meant to ease the effects of New York's strict drug laws goes into full effect today, prosecutors, defense lawyers, prisoners and their families are still struggling to figure out how the complex law will work, whom it will help and how soon. One thing they all agree on is that the process is only beginning. Outside Poughkeepsie, Thomas J. Whalen is trying to make sure that asking a court for a new sentence will be the fastest route to freedom for his longtime client, Roberto Charris, who has been in prison since 1989 serving a 20-year sentence for drug possession. Near Niagara Falls, Miguel Ortiz Garcia is looking for help in determining whether the new law will affect his sister, Lydia Ortiz, given the complications of her case (among other things, she fled before her trial, was convicted in absentia and is now serving a sentence of 25 years to life). And in Manhattan, where the drug laws appear likely to be a political issue in the race for district attorney this fall, prosecutors are reviewing files to see which prisoners they will fight to keep incarcerated. The new law, signed by Gov. George E. Pataki last month, reduces the mandatory sentences enacted in 1973 at the behest of Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller. Now, rather than a mandatory sentence of at least 15 years to life, first-time offenders could get as little as eight years and, depending on their circumstances, could be out of prison in less than four years on work-release. Prisoners who were sentenced to the longest terms can also ask to be resentenced under the new rules. In theory, at least, that could mean immediate release for some of the 446 prisoners, known as A-1 offenders. These prisoners "want to get out that day," said Randy Credico, director of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice, which organized prisoners' families to lobby for changing the drug laws. He said he was being flooded with letters from convicts seeking help and advice on getting out of prison as soon as possible, some from lower-level offenders who are not eligible for resentencing. The procedures required by the new law are complex and may end up being time-consuming, prosecutors and defense lawyers say. A prisoner with a previous conviction for committing a violent felony, for example, could actually receive a longer sentence. A resentencing could also involve a protracted set of hearings, especially if the district attorneys who won the original convictions oppose granting shorter sentences. There may be disputes over whether an offender was really a low-level dealer or addict who happened to be caught with a large amount of drugs - the people the new law is supposed to help - or was really a big-time dealer or distributor. So in at least a few cases, like that of Mr. Whalen's client, Mr. Charris, there is the possibility that applying for parole might result in a faster release than a resentencing. "Some cases will move pretty quickly, but others are a little more complicated, and we'll have to take our time with them," said Alfred A. O'Connor, a lawyer with the New York State Defenders Association, which is advising public defenders outside New York City on how to handle resentencing cases. "There's a lot of excitement right now," he added, "but the feeling is, let's do it right" rather than fast. The new law adds an unusual process that allows prisoners to find out what new sentence a judge intends to impose and to appeal it before he does. The Office of Court Administration has not yet distributed information for judges on how to handle these cases. Public defenders, who expect to handle the bulk of these cases, are still sending out letters to long-term prisoners advising them of their rights; lower-level prisoners are also receiving letters about a change in the law that permits them to seek parole earlier if they participate in merit programs, said Robert C. Newman, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society. Some prisoners have already filed resentencing motions without waiting for a lawyer; the city's special narcotics prosecutor, Bridget G. Brennan, said her office had received three of these. The Kunstler Fund is planning to help some of the prisoners whose families were active in the effort to get the drug laws changed, said Margaret Ratner Kunstler, a lawyer and president of the fund. One of the fund's first cases is likely to be that of Miguel Arenas, who was sentenced in 1993 to at least 15 years in prison after he supplied two ounces of cocaine to a co-worker at a subway repair yard who then sold the drugs to an undercover agent. His mother, Norma Arenas, is in poor health. Richard A. Brown, the Queens district attorney whose office prosecuted Mr. Arenas, said in a statement, "Each case will be individually reviewed on its merits, and where a sentence reduction is justified, we will not oppose it." Robert M. Morgenthau, the Manhattan district attorney, said his staff was checking case files and reviewing grand jury minutes to decide how to respond to requests for resentencings. As a policy, his office generally did not charge first-time offenders with the crimes carrying the stiffest sentences, he said, so "we have very few that come under the rubric of overly harsh." Leslie Crocker Snyder, a former judge who is expected to run against Mr. Morgenthau this fall, has criticized him for being slow to come out against the drug laws, which he did last March. Now that he has, he was asked yesterday, might he not be criticized for his delay? "Free country," Mr. Morgenthau said. Source: New York Times (NY) Author: Leslie Eaton Published: January 13, 2005 Copyright: 2005 The New York Times Company Contact: letters@nytimes.com Website: http://www.nytimes.com/