7/28/2019 Brown's Parole Record Sets Him Apart From Recent
Predecessors
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latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ff-brown-parole-20130215,0,7673476.story
latimes.com
Brown's parole record sets him apart from recent
predecessors
The governor signed off on parole for 377 convicted killers who
have been serving life
sentences. Earlier governors rejected almost all release
recommendations for
murderers.
By Paige St. John, Los Angeles Times
10:07 PM PST, February 15, 2013
SACRAMENTO Gov. Jerry Brown continues to set himself apart from
past governors when
it comes to giving criminals a second chance, telling the
Legislature on Friday that he rejectedonly a small portion of the
hundreds of convicted killers cleared last year for release from
prison.
The report follows Brown's disclosure that he pardoned 128
people last year, mostly expunging the records of
felons who had served their time.
The governor signed off on parole for 377 convicted killers who
have been serving life sentences, according
to numbers provided by his staff. That's 81% of those the parole
board endorsed for release.
Brown approved a similar portion of parole grants the year
before, in contrast to earlier governors, who
rejected almost all release recommendations for murderers.
Among those to be freed years from now is Bert Cole, 43. In
1991, Cole was a member of the
Graveyard Crips and killed a man he thought belonged to a rival
gang.
Brown's letter approving Cole for release in 2017 notes that the
inmate has worked toward a college degree
and developed a business plan for a nonprofit agency to help
troubled youths. His file contains a note from a
Los Angeles prosecutor stating that Cole "impressed everybody in
the room" at his last parole hearing.
The governor also OKd the 2016 parole of Lawrence Owens, 43, for
his part in the 1993 murder of another
man over a $20 drug debt and an insult to Owens' mother. Owens
kicked and struck the man, but Brown's
approval letter said it was Owens' "crime partner" who hit the
victim with a slab of concrete, causing severe
head trauma.
Brown's letter cites Owens' "exemplary behavior while
incarcerated," including a single serious rule violation
during 19 years in prison, earned credit toward a college degree
and endorsements from a Muslim chaplain,
Jewish rabbi and Contra Costa County prosecutor.
In his report to the Legislature, the governor said he blocked
the release of 91 inmates because he believed
they still posed a public safety threat. He sent two other cases
back to the Board of Parole Hearings for
review.
n's parole record sets him apart from recent predecessors -
latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ff-brown-parole-2013
2/18/2013
