Joseph Hylan had two hours to save Kevin Scott Thomas from a possible five- year term in the slammer.
Thomas, 32, had violated the three-year probation on which he had been placed by two Montgomery County judges for drug possession and receiving stolen property. While on that probation, he had been convicted by a Lehigh County court on charges of stealing $5.89 in candy bars and cigarettes from a convenience store - and Hylan had two hours to memorize his arrest record.
Two hours to ask Thomas what went wrong.
Two hours to talk with the prosecutor and try to cut a deal.
Two hours before Thomas faces the two judges who had put him on probation.
It was 12:45 p.m. Friday. Two hours isn't a lot of time when a man's freedom is at stake.
Within that time frame, Hylan, a Montgomery County public defender since January 1987, had to make sure he would do the right thing for his client. In that way, Hylan reasoned, the public's interest also would be well-served.
"Two boxes of Slim Jims, six Snickers bars, a pack of Winstons," Steve Mancini, a Montgomery County probation officer, told Hylan, rattling off the items Thomas was convicted of stealing.
"And, oh yeah," he added, "forgot to include the Chunky bar. Comes to $5.89."
Hylan shook his head sadly.
"And it cost this man 32 days out of his life," Hylan said.
After reading Thomas' criminal record, Hylan, sitting in his cubicle on the second floor of the Montgomery County Courthouse, took a deep breath.
He closed the folder on Thomas and left for lunch - and to ponder the tack he should take in seeking to persuade the judges that the petty theft - a mere summary offense for someone who has not been convicted before - was just a case of incredibly bad judgment.
About 90 minutes later, it was all over. In rapid-fire succession, he had had lunch, conferred with his client and cut a deal with Assistant District Attorney John McMahon under which they agreed to recommend a 30-day retroactive sentence and a new three-year probation period.
The bottom line was that Thomas wasn't required to serve any additional time, having been credited with the 32 days he had already spent in prison awaiting the hearing.
For Hylan, keeping a client out of prison is the best possible outcome.
"Whew!" he said as he entered the elevator that would take him from Courtroom D on the third floor of the courthouse to his second-floor office. ''We handled one of the most important days of this young man's life in an hour and a half."
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