The prosecutor who denied 27-year-old mother of two Shaneen Allen entrance into a program that would have allowed her to avoid jail is now rethinking his decision, the Press of Atlantic City reports.
Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain wrote a letter last week to Superior Court Judge Michael Donio that his office would review Allen’s case, following criticism that he was treating her unfairly.
“I am presently in the process of reviewing our office’s position on the appropriate resolution of this matter,” McClain wrote, as quoted by the Press.
McClain requested to adjourn the case for three weeks, pushing back the trial date from Oct. 6 to Oct. 20.
McClain’s refusal to allow Allen into New Jersey’s Pretrial Prevention program is not out of the ordinary for this prosecutor. McClain regularly denies entrance into the program for cases similar to Allen’s, according to documents obtained by the Press.
McClain’s predecessor, Ted Housel, was not so stingy.
“Housel said in a 2012 memorandum that Atlantic County is unique since tourists who legally own guns often bring them into the state not realizing their permits do not cross state lines,” wrote Lynda Cohen of the Press.
By contrast, McClain believes that since the mistake is so common the New Jersey legislature should have made an exemption in the law, but since it didn’t, he won’t provide one.
McClain did grant entrance into the diversion program to NFL star Ray Rice, who punched his then-fiancée in the face in an Atlantic City elevator. That decision was made all the more baffling when ESPN uncovered documents showing less than 1 percent of people charged with assault in New Jersey are allowed into the program.
McClain’s decision to review Allen’s case is a good one, but there are most likely other Shaneen Allens out there. Now that McClain is reviewing his decision in Allen’s case, what’s to stop every defense attorney that has ever had a client McClain barred from the diversion program from crying foul?
