Judge rejects request in cell phone case

Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2005 | 10 a.m.

A District Court judge Monday rejected a request to cut short the probation of a motorist who caused a fatal traffic crash while she allegedly was talking on a cell phone.

District Judge Nancy Saitta said she would not alter the "spirit of the negotiation" that Karen Morris entered into with prosecutors. The real estate agent received five years' probation and was to serve 26 weekends in jail after pleading guilty to three counts of felony reckless driving in the collision that killed Leona Greif, 61, and Marcia Nathans, 65.

According to police, Morris was talking on a cell phone March 25, 2001, when she ran two red lights at 65 mph in a 45 mph zone and struck the vehicle in which Greif and Nathans were riding. A third passenger was critically injured in the crash.

The judge said Morris' plea agreement was quite favorable for Morris and "far more than I would have considered, and I questioned it at the time."

Saitta did tell Morris she was pleased with the fact that over the last years Morris has not violated the terms of her probation, which she did twice in 2003.

Morris was placed under house arrest after taking an unauthorized trip to Utah in March 2003 and later was sentenced to 30 days in jail for violating the terms of her probation after being caught working out at a local gym in July 2003.

Saitta said that while she was glad "this particular defendant is not a problem," the negotiation was "no different than a contract."

"The spirit of negotiations is something judges are told not to get in the middle of," Saitta said.

Deputy District Attorney Bruce Nelson agreed, saying earlier in the hearing "the agreement was not for "two or three" years of probation. He added that Morris received a favorable "plea bargain to begin with for killing two people and getting probation."

Morris' attorney, Stephen Stein, unsuccessfully argued for Morris' early release from probation, saying Morris had been rehabilitated, which he contended is the true purpose of placing a person on probation.

"Probation is not a punishment, not an incarceration," Stein said. "Probation is to make sure a person is on the right path and not return to the criminal justice system as a defendant."

Stein said Morris had completed the more than 1,000 hours of community service, has not driven a car and has "done everything required of her."

Stein said that Morris' probation officer had encouraged Morris to seek an early release from probation.

But in a letter faxed by the officer to Saitta, the probation officer wrote that because of the severe nature of Morris' crime, her two violations of probation and the fact she was sentenced to a fixed term he "cannot order early release."

Nevertheless, Stein argued that it is in the best interest of the criminal justice system and more specifically the over-burdened Department of Parole and Probation to release Morris.

"She doesn't need any more supervision," Stein said. "Why continue to burden them (Parole and Probation) with people who no longer need supervision."