Modesto man gets up to life in prison for attempted break-in, under Three Strikes law
A Modesto man has been sentenced to 35 years to life in prison after being convicted for his “third strike.”
A jury in April found Daniel John Marchy, 61, guilty of attempted residential burglary of an inhabited dwelling. The trial, prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Aurora Maddocks, concerned Marchy’s attempt to enter a former co-worker’s home in the early hours of Sept. 18, 2020.
According to a press release from the Stanislaus District Attorney’s office, the victim’s home surveillance captured Marchy trying to open a window and door of the home around 2 a.m. He was wearing a shirt with “Puma” on it, shoes and latex gloves, but no pants. The news release says the video shows him repeatedly touching his genitals.
Defense attorney Jaidee Serrano told The Bee that Marchy was “visibly intoxicated, half-dressed with shoes on, talking to himself, and holding himself steady with patio furniture,” at the time of the Sept. 18 incident.
Later that day while leaving for work, the victim noticed that items on her porch had been moved. After the 52-year-old victim notified authorities, law enforcement detained Marchy the same day. He still was wearing the shirt that was captured in the home surveillance video.
According to the district attorney’s press release, Marchy told an arresting deputy, “I think I know what you’re talking about” before asking to speak to an attorney.
Serrano described Marchy’s background as “riddled with abuse, trauma and severe alcohol dependency.” In a statement to The Bee, Serrano said her client was a victim of incest and molestation as a child, which continued into his adulthood. He began drinking at age 12 before becoming an alcoholic at 15.
A week after the trial started, a jury found Marchy guilty of attempted residential burglary. Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Linda McFadden presided over the trial.
Under California’s Three Strikes law, repeat offenders can be sentenced to 25 years to life upon their third felony or violent conviction. Marchy had been convicted twice before of committing a lewd act with a child. According to Serrano, Marchy was 27 at the time of his first serious conviction, and the second followed a decade later. As felonies, these convictions qualified as “strikes” against Marchy.
The defense raised a motion to dismiss one or both of Marchy’s past convictions.
“Danny never chose to suffer the way he did, and as an adult with a mind that needs to be numbed because escape isn’t possible and therapy cannot heal all the pain, prison is now his only option,” Serrano’s statement reads.
McFadden rejected the defense’s motion before announcing Marchy’s sentence at a hearing June 5. Marchy was ordered to serve 35 years to life in state prison. The attempted burglary conviction incurred 25 years to life, and each prior strike added on five years, which will run consecutively.
This story was originally published June 13, 2023 at 6:00 PM.
