Is the Law Black and White?

BECK: Well, here is a heartwarming story. A guy breaks into another guy`s house and steals his safe. Then the police report says it contained a handgun and some personal papers. Curiously, it doesn`t really mention the pictures of the robbery victim molesting a 2-year-old. What? He didn`t say that those were missing?

Those turn up anonymously later at the Los Gatos Police Department, apparently sent there by a man with an extensive criminal report himself.

Now this guy is in jail on an unrelated charge. His name is Matthews Hahn. He`s facing life in prison under California`s three strikes and you`re out law. He won`t say how he came into possession of those photos, but at any rate, he did do the right thing. He`s not a complete waste of skin.

His lawyer plans to use his good deed for leniency. Allen Schwartz, the attorney defending Matthew Hahn.

So honor among thieves, Mr. Attorney? I mean, does your client really deserve a break? He`s got a long record.

ALLEN SCHWARTZ, ATTORNEY FOR MATTHEW HAHN: Yes, he does indeed deserve a break. Even people who do bad things can sometimes do a good thing. And Matt Hahn did the right thing at this time. He didn`t have to think twice about it. He knew someone was out there harming an infant.

BECK: Right.

SCHWARTZ: And he had to put a stop to it.

BECK: Well, I did -- I did read his account of it, and it was quite amazing. I mean, he said he couldn`t sleep at night. He saw the photos. He tried to go to sleep. He couldn`t sleep at night. He wrapped them up in his pink purse and put it in the mail.

But this isn`t why he was busted. He was not busted for this robbery. He was busted for another robbery. So, I mean, he knew he was facing one more time and he was out for life under the three strikes, but he not only did that -- maybe, I don`t know how he got a hold of the purse. But he was arrested on a separate charge, was he not?

SCHWARTZ: Correct.

BECK: So why should he get leniency for that robbery when all he did was find these pictures and send them in?

SCHWARTZ: Well, it`s not just finding the pictures and sending them in. But what he did, really, was put a stop to the perversion that was molesting this child.

BECK: But how is that -- how is that connected at all to, you know, the three strikes? So he did a good thing?

SCHWARTZ: The three strike law.

BECK: Pardon me?

SCHWARTZ: He did do a good thing, yes, he did.

BECK: Yes.

SCHWARTZ: But under the three strike law in California, and actually Matt Hahn is facing something like between three and 400 years to life...

BECK: Right. I will tell you, sir, that it is an outrage that the guy who was molesting the 2-year-old got 30 years, and your client is facing up to 400 years. That is a little insane, but that`s the way the law works in California.

SCHWARTZ: That`s true. But one of the provisions of the law is that, at the time of sentencing, the judge can take into consideration certain factors that perhaps could mitigate the sentence.

BECK: Right.

SCHWARTZ: The judge can consider character. He can consider background, prospects, as well as the nature and circumstances of the current crime and also of the previous crimes.

BECK: OK.

SCHWARTZ: So the judge can take these things into account when he`s fashioning a sentence.

BECK: Right.

SCHWARTZ: It does not automatically have to be...

BECK: I -- we`ll be following this story. I think you have your work cut out for you, but I appreciate the -- the update on it. And we`ll come to you again when the judge has decided. Thank you very much.

SCHWARTZ: OK.

BECK: Let`s go to Judge Alex Ferrer. He is joining me now from Miami. If you were judging this case -- wait a minute, you`re that TV judge. I know you.

ALEX FERRER, HOST, "JUDGE ALEX": I was a judge -- I was a judge for ten years in Miami, and now I`ve got "Judge Alex."

BECK: You`re -- you`re judging this case. You cut the guy some slack? Remember he`s got -- he`s got, I believe, 18 or 19 arrests on his report.

FERRER: What he has, he has nine prior felonies, but they were all from one incident. So he`s the kind of guy who goes out and breaks into nine houses, gets caught and charged with all at one time. So the judge can take that into consideration, that he didn`t have a chance to reform his behavior from two to three to four or whatever.

BECK: Right.

FERRER: But what happened in this case is he goes out and they catch him selling stuff that was stolen in other, I believe, burglaries, on eBay, so he ends up with 19 counts, which is why he`s facing so much time. For each count he`s got a certain number of years he`s facing. He`s had 19 counts.

But would I give him some leniency? I would certainly take into consideration -- because you look at the whole package -- I would take into consideration the fact that his activity did lead to the -- the stopping of this molestation.

BECK: Yes, but I mean, that has nothing to do with it. I have to tell you, on the radio show, I asked the listeners. I said, "Let me do a freak jury. You just call in and you tell me, would you listen to that or not?"

There wasn`t a single -- of course they`re all black-hearted conservatives. There wasn`t -- there wasn`t a single person who said, "Yes, we should cut him some slack." They are separate instances.

FERRER: I guarantee you, there are plenty of people in prison who view me as black-hearted, and think that I am the antichrist who`s supposed to be celebrated tomorrow.

BECK: Right. Told you he was, already.

FERRER: The reality is that it`s a factor you take into consideration. It`s not going to mean much, because he has nine prior felonies.

BECK: Right.

FERRER: If the judge were to ignore eight of them, he`s still a two- striker, and he`s going to face a tremendous amount of time in prison. So -- which is what he should get. He`s a criminal.

And his ethical standards are very narrowly defined. He doesn`t mind stealing from everybody, but when it comes to a crime that involves a child, OK, fine. Well, I see the distinction, but he`s not a man of the cloth. Let`s put it that way.

BECK: I`m up against -- I`m up against a hard break. But again, I have to ask, as a judge, aren`t you frustrated that you could spend 400 years for robbery, and 30 years for molesting a child once?

FERRER: Well, first of all he`s facing 400 years because of the number of counts.

BECK: It doesn`t matter. You can rob from the day -- from the day you`re born until the day you die, and it`s not as bad as raping a child who`s 2 years old one time. It`s insane.

FERRER: No. That is true. But 30 years is not a walk in the park, either... Thank you, Glenn.

BECK: You bet.