Under the state constitution, at least four Supreme Court justices must recommend clemency before the Governor can pardon, or commute the sentence of, someone who has been “twice convicted of a felony.” Based on that requirement, Governor Gavin Newsom yesterday sent the court requests for permission to commute five sentences and grant two pardons. These are his first requests in seven months.
The court has said it reviews requests for clemency recommendations under a deferential standard of review. And Governor Newsom has a nearly perfect record — other than one request that Newsom withdrew before a ruling, the court has signed off on 35 of 35 requests he has submitted. That’s better than former Governor Jerry Brown, who had the court, without explanation, block 10 intended clemency grants.
As is usual, other than relatively brief cover letters, Newsom submitted the documents supporting his requests under seal. It will likely take separate motions in each clemency file before the court might make at least some of the documents open to public view. (See here and here.)
The latest clemency candidates, and the limited publicly available information Newsom submitted about their criminal records, are:
Eric Cowan: the Governor wants to commute a 1998 140 years to life third-strike sentence for robbery and attempted robbery. The commutation would make Cowan eligible for an earlier parole suitability hearing.
Howard Ford: the Governor wants to commute a 1980 sentence of life without parole plus 11 years for first degree murder and robbery. Ford has prior felony convictions dating back to 1963. The commutation would make Ford eligible for a parole suitability hearing.
Jose Garcia: the Governor wants to commute a 1988 sentence of life without parole plus nine years for kidnapping for ransom, kidnapping, and robbery. The commutation would make Garcia eligible for a parole suitability hearing.
Joseph Giddings: the Governor wants to pardon Giddings for convictions of a drug-related felony in 1996 and grand theft in 1997.
Michael Holmes: the Governor wants to commute a 2007 sentence of 25 years to life for robbery as a third strike. The commutation would make Holmes eligible for an earlier parole suitability hearing.
Rahsaan Thomas: the Governor wants to commute a 2003 sentence of 55 years and six months for second degree murder and attempted voluntary manslaughter. The commutation would make Thomas eligible for an earlier parole suitability hearing.
Scotty Bowman: the Governor wants to pardon Bowman for a 1996 conviction of possession of a controlled substance and burglary.