The Supreme Court today recommended that Governor Gavin Newsom commute the life-without-parole sentence of David Fitts. It also recommended two other long-sentence commutations and a pardon. The recommendations, made at Newsom’s request in May, are constitutional prerequisites to the clemencies, as they are for anyone who has been “twice convicted of a felony.”
The Governor’s request said Fitts “was convicted [in 1996] of first degree murder, attempted robbery, and attempted voluntary manslaughter with sentence enhancements. He was sentenced to a prison term of life without the possibility of parole. In 1993, Mr. Fitts sustained a prior felony conviction for assault with a firearm on a person.”
The other approved clemencies, with their criminal records as stated in the Governor’s cover letters to the court, are:
Cleveland Lindley, commutation. “In 1996, Mr. Lindley was convicted of robbery with sentence enhancements. He was sentenced to a prison term of 105 years to life. In 1989, Mr. Lindley sustained prior felony convictions for robbery and false imprisonment.”
Mario Magallon, commutation. “In 2000, Mr. Magallon was convicted of kidnap to commit robbery and robbery with sentence enhancements. He was sentenced to a prison term of 108 years to life. In 1992, Mr. Magallon sustained a prior felony conviction for attempted robbery.”
Lewis Baker, pardon. “In 1998, Mr. Baker was convicted of maintaining a synthetic drug and manufacturing a controlled substance. In 2001, he was convicted of possession of a controlled substance for sale.”
The three commutations won’t require any prisoner releases, at least not right away. Rather, the Governor said he is “contemplating” those clemency grants will lead to “eligib[ility] for an earlier parole suitability hearing” or, in Fitts’s case, eligibility simply for a parole suitability hearing that would not otherwise be available at all. (Related: “Newsom grants clemency, but freedom isn’t certain”.)
Newsom has a nearly perfect clemency record: he withdrew one request before a ruling, but the court — applying a deferential standard (see here and here) — has approved all 80 of his other requests (not counting six that are still pending (see here, here, and here)). That’s better than former Governor Jerry Brown, who had the court without explanation block 10 intended clemency grants. The denial of a request implies that a clemency grant would be an abuse of power.
Including Fitts, the court has approved 14 Newsom requests for commutations of LWOP sentences. He has not sought clemency for any death row inmates. Notably, two of those 14 requests were approved after the court had denied earlier requests by Governor Brown for the same people. (See here and here.)
The Governor’s requests were all lodged under seal, but the San Bernardino District Attorney’s Office moved to unseal the Fitts and Lindley records (see here). Without the motions, the records would have remained shielded from the public. With the motions, the court — as has become the routine — required Newsom to justify keeping all or parts of the records under wraps and then made redacted records available for viewing. (See here and here.)
