Three strikes law in play in fraud case

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in Los Angeles say they hope to use California's three-strikes law against a man who already has two convictions for mortgage fraud.

If they succeed, Timothy Barnett, 47, could become the first person to receive a life sentence under the law for non-violent crimes, the Los Angeles Times reports. Stan Goldman, a Loyola Law School professor who opposes the three strikes law, told the newspaper he has never heard of a non-violent felon being targeted.

"This law was intended to deal with serious and violent felons and lock them up forever," Goldman said. "If this guy's guilty, he's a pretty despicable and dangerous character. But he hasn't killed anybody."

Deputy District Attorney Max Huntsman, who heads the real estate fraud unit in Los Angeles County, said he believes the use of the law is appropriate.

"Mr. Barnett, if he did the things he's charged with, is a horrible danger to the community," Huntsman said. "He has an ability to make people trust him and he uses it to steal their biggest asset, their home, and that's horrible."

Prosecutors are taking advantage of a technicality. In the cases that sent Barnett to prison in the 1990s, he talked to his victims in their homes, enticing them to commit a felony, which made his actions burglary under California law, prosecutors said.