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Risk assessment proposal open for comment

HOLLIDAYSBURG — The state’s proposed use of a risk assessment tool to gauge a defendant’s likelihood of committing another crime will be open for comment through the end of the month.

The proposal drew no comments Wednesday during a hearing at the Blair County Courthouse. Additional hearings are scheduled through May 31, the day before the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing’s quarterly meeting in Harrisburg where comments are to be reviewed.

The commission’s approval of a final proposal, Executive Director Mark H. Bergstrom said Wednesday, will be forwarded to the General Assembly. Unless rejected by lawmakers, the proposal will be on track to become ready for use as of July 1, 2018.

Bergstrom said he and the commission have worked several years with personnel in Blair, Westmoreland, Allegheny and Philadelphia counties on efforts to refine use of the risk assessment tool.

Some of the feedback from Blair and the other counties, Bergstrom said, convinced the commission to introduce the tool slowly, starting with non-DUI cases involving defendants who entered open pleas or who were convicted in a trial by jury or judge.

In those cases, he said, the tool will be used to gather a defendant’s biographical information and criminal history, then compare it to statistical information that will determine if the defendant is likely to commit additional crimes. Based on the evaluation, a judge could consider a lesser sentence for a defendant with a low risk of re-offending and a more severe sentence for someone with a higher risk.

That kind of evaluation, Bergstrom said, might also someday play a role in the early stages of a criminal case, when prosecutors and defense attorneys try to negotiate a plea.

Blair County Public Defender Russ Montgomery attended Wednesday’s hearing but offered no testimony.

The Public Defenders Association of Pennsylvania, Montgomery said, is expected to testify May 31 in Harrisburg.

“Something the association doesn’t like is that it uses arrests as a factor in determining the chance of re-offending, even if the defendant wasn’t convicted in those arrests,” Montgomery said.

Anyone wanting to submit written comments are directed to submit them to Bergstrom in care of the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing, P.O. Box 1200, State College, PA 16804.

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