Wednesday, July 25, 2012

In Re Tapia (Cal. Ct. App. - July 18, 2012)

This seems right to me.

There may well be some people who think that Alex Tapia has served his time -- almost twenty years in prison -- for attempting to kill Salvador Vega, and so deserves parole.  And Tapia has indeed done great things in prison, and with only a minor disciplinary infraction (possession of alcohol) back in 1999.  So you can see why some people might think he's not a danger; indeed, everyone seems to concede that he's on the low end of that scale.

But I agree with the Court of Appeal that there's at least "some" evidence to support the Board of Parole Hearing's decision to deny parole.  It's a rational choice.  Within very loose bounds, its the Board's call.  And this one doesn't exceed their discretion.  So the trial court's decision to the contrary gets reversed.

Someday Tapia will get out of prison.  But not today.