California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has agreed to parole a woman who killed her husband’s mistress in 1987, the second time in a week the newly elected governor has granted the release of a convicted murderer.
Schwarzenegger’s decision Wednesday marks a departure from the actions of former Gov. Gray Davis, who during his five years repeatedly refused to grant paroles approved by the state’s Board of Prison Terms.
Davis blocked all but eight of 294 paroles approved by the board in murder cases. He twice rejected parole for Rosario Munoz, the woman Schwarzenegger has agreed to free.
Under state law, the governor can reject the state board’s parole decisions. California is one of only three states that grants governors that power.
Schwarzenegger did not comment on his decision to parole Munoz, a 51-year-old mother of three who was convicted in 1989 of killing her husband’s lover in Los Angeles.
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17457-2003Nov27.html