Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Antolini said that to sentence Jeffrey Dean Missamore to up to eight years in state prison would have been cruel and unusual punishment. Missamore was convicted in 1986 of burglary and auto theft charges. He was arrested in April on the marijuana possession charge when in county jail for petty theft. Although the law states that judges must double the sentence for two-time offenders, Antolini sentenced Missamore to a year in county jail and three years probation.
Prosecutors plan to appeal.
Antolini said that he favors harsher sentences for violent offenders, but that mandatory sentencing takes away judicial discretion. It punishes everyone, including the public.