Los Angeles County Public Defender Ron Brown walked into a Pomona court Wednesday and saw first-hand the impact of Proposition 47 — the voter-approved initiative that reduces penalties for drug possession and other nonviolent crimes. His office had deliberately postponed sentencing for a defendant facing more than a year behind bars for possessing heroin and methamphetamine to the day after Tuesday's election, waiting to see what voters would do. The gambit worked. The man was sentenced and released from custody with no further jail time. "They were felonies yesterday. They're misdemeanors today," Brown said. "This is the law now." The day after California voted to...
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