It is too early to say for sure, but there is a possibility that Kenrick Johnson, the man arrested for the recent murder of LAPD officer Ricardo Lizarraga, should have been behind bars — serving a life sentence under the Three Strikes Law.

The details of Johnson’s record remain sketchy. According to this story:

Police described him [Johnson] as a gang member with convictions for drug sales, arson and domestic violence as well as robbery, which earned him a five-year prison sentence between 1990 and 1995. He was still on parole.

Arson and robbery are both “strike” offenses under California law. Once Johnson was convicted of the second of these offenses, he was a “third-striker” who potentially faced a 25-to-life sentence for any subsequent felony conviction.

Although it is not certain, the paltry information available suggests that the arson conviction predated the robbery conviction. According to this story, Johnson was still on parole for his robbery offense at the time of the murder. This suggests that Johnson’s most recent “strike” conviction was the 1990 robbery conviction. (There is reason to question this, since it is highly unusual for someone to be on parole nine years after their release from prison.) If this is correct, Johnson became a third-striker eligible for a life sentence upon his release from prison in 1995. Under the Three Strikes Law, he would have faced a life sentence for any subsequent felony offense.

What is unclear is whether Johnson’s other felony convictions occurred before or after 1995. The details of Johnson’s rap sheet remain nebulous. The Los Angeles Dog Trainer has not seen fit to release the complete details of Johnson’s criminal history, including the dates and specific nature of his felony convictions. As a result, it is not possible to determine from the news stories printed so far whether Johnson received any felony convictions after 1995.

If Johnson was convicted of a felony after 1995 — and I stress the word “if” — he could have been sentenced to prison for a term of 25 years to life — and would not have been on the streets on Friday, when Officer Lizarraga was murdered.

Of course, in Los Angeles County, if that subsequent felony conviction was for a non-strike offense, he probably would not have received a life sentence under Steve Cooley’s policy of treating such offenses as “second strike” offenses — even if they are “third strike” offenses under the law. Johnson’s other convictions, including drug sales and domestic violence offenses, were almost certainly not “strike” offenses. If those offenses occurred after 1995, Johnson would have faced a 25-to-life sentence under the law — but not under Cooley’s policy.

At this point, we simply don’t know whether prosecutors had a chance to give Johnson a life sentence or not. Even if they did, there are many reasons that a lesser sentence might have been appropriate, including the presence of weaknesses in the new case or cases. It is simply too early to draw any conclusions.

However, there are obviously some serious questions that need to be answered. I’ll be keeping an eye on this. But I don’t necessarily expect to learn the relevant facts from the Dog Trainer, which (so far) shows no interest in even asking the relevant questions.

2/28/04 UPDATE: Further investigation reveals that Johnson was apparently not a third-striker at the time of his two felony convictions after 1995. However, under current law (after the passage of Proposition 21), he would have been.

The overriding point here is that any lenient sentencing policy has a cost, which is often measured in the lives of innocent victims. For example, had Proposition 21 been passed in 1996, Johnson would have been eligible for a life sentence, and Officer Lizarraga might still be alive.