But then, pretty much invariably, whoever the Governor is then overturns the parole grant. Why? Because pretty much every single one of them, of whatever political stripe, doesn't want to be blamed for it if the person granted parole subsequently does anything wrong. That wouldn't look good in a later election, so why risk it? Thank you, Willie Horton.
Then the standard process continues, with the would-be-paroled inmate filing a writ petition, claiming that there's no substantial evidence that supports the Governor's decision, and the subsequent resolution of that issue in the Court of Appeal (regardless of which way the trial court decided). All the while, we pretend that the Governor's decision is "neutral" even though we all know full well that we're really just engaging in Kabuki theatre.
But whatever. That's the play. So everyone does their part.
Today's opinion is yet another iteration. There's a majority opinion and a dissent, so reasonable people could (and do) come out on both sides.
The hard thing for the defendant here, however, is the nature of the underlying offense. Yes, defendant was super young when he committed the crime, which is heavily in his favor, as is the fact that he's now served multiple decades in prison, with a fairly impressive record therein.
But the facts of the murder are sufficiently chilling that you can probably figure out what result ends up being adopted by the majority notwithstanding the dissent. Here they are:
"Royce Casey is serving a life term for the brutal murder of
a 15-year-old girl. After Casey served 23 years three months, the
parole board granted him parole. The Governor reversed the
parole board’s decision and denied Casey parole on the ground
that Casey lacks insight into his crime. The superior court
granted Casey’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The People
appeal from the court’s order granting the petition. . . .
In 1995, when Casey was 17 years old, he was infatuated
with “death metal” music. He started using drugs. He discussed
with Jacob Delashmutt, 17 years old, and Joe Fiorella, 15 years
old, sacrificing a virgin as part of a devil-worshipping ritual. The
three crime partners planned the murder for several months.
Elyse Pahler, 15 years old, attended the same high school
as the three partners. On the evening of July 22, 1995,
Delashmutt and Fiorella told Casey that they had lured Pahler
into joining them at a remote location in Arroyo Grande. They
told her they were going to use drugs with her. Later that
evening, Pahler joined them at the remote location to smoke
marijuana.
After 15 to 20 minutes, Delashmutt pulled off his belt and
began to strangle Pahler. Fiorella pulled out a hunting knife and
stabbed her four to six times in her neck. Delashmutt took the
knife next and stabbed her four or five more times in her neck.
Finally, Casey took the knife and stabbed her four times in her
back. As Pahler moaned on the ground, Casey stomped on the
back of her neck.
After it was clear Pahler was dead, Delashmutt started to
pull off her pants. The boys had discussed having sex with her
after she was dead. Instead, Casey said that they should leave.
They buried Pahler in a shallow grave and left the area.
About eight months later, with the crime still unsolved,
Casey confessed his commission of the crime to a clergyman. The
clergyman contacted law enforcement. Casey described the
murder to the authorities and led them to Pahler’s body."
You can probably see why the Parole Board eventually voted to grant Casey parole. He was 17. He served 23 years in prison. He confessed and turned himself in to a clergyman. He performed admirably in prison.
The majority nonetheless reverses the habeas grant. In part, I suspect, because the underlying facts of the offense are undeniably chilling.
