Courtroom 302

Judge Locallo saw Larry Bates again on June 4. During his time in lock-up, Bates was evaluated by Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities (TASC) and “deemed suitable for treatment” (193). Bates’s public defender, Kathryn Lisco, requested probation and drug treatment “in exchange for [Bates’s] guilty plea” (193). Judge Locallo would have preferred boot camp for Bates—partly due to his bet with another judge “regarding who [would] send more defendants to the boot camp this year”—but, Bates was too old (193). Bates admitted that he had never really addressed his addiction but would like a chance to do so now. Judge Locallo was skeptical of putting Bates into a treatment facility, worrying that he might have taken a bed away from someone who was serious about recovery. Lisco defended her client’s integrity. Locallo gave in, but Bates had to remain in jail until a bed opened up for him at the treatment facility, which could take weeks—or even months. Locallo also allowed Bates to attend his daughter’s high school graduation. Bates would be properly sentenced when he returned to court on Monday. Lisco worried about Bates “getting carried away during his weekend of freedom” and relapsing, which would make her look like a fool (196).