Sarah Kruzan’s sentence commuted!
Date: January 2, 2011 7:49:44 PM EST
DEAR SUPPORTERS:
Please allow me to share the great news. Arnold Schwarzenegger commuted Sara’s sentence to 25 years to life. Please read below.
Kim Deanne
Commutation statement from Schwarzenegger
SARA JESSIMY KRUZAN, W-59700
“If at the end of court procedures there is claimed to persist a miscarriage of justice, despite all the precautions of the law to the contrary, the ultimate remedy rests in an appeal to the Governor . . . .” (In re Horowitz (1949) 33 Cal.2d 534, 546.)
On March 10, 1994, 16-year-old Sara Kruzan shot and killed her former pimp, 37-year-old George Howard. In response to threats by James Earl Hampton, Ms. Kruzan went to a movie with Mr. Howard. After the movie, the pair went to a hotel. As they prepared to have sexual intercourse, she shot Mr. Howard to death. Ms. Kruzan was convicted of special circumstances first-degree murder (while lying in wait and during a robbery) with a firearm. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus four consecutive years for the use of a firearm. Ms. Kruzan appealed her conviction, but her sentence was upheld. Mr. Howard’s death is tragic, and I do not discount the gravity of the offense. But given Ms. Kruzan’s age at the time of the murder, and considering the significant abuse she suffered at his hands, I believe
Ms. Kruzan’s sentence is excessive. Accordingly, I commute Ms. Kruzan’s murder sentence to 25 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole.1
NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State of California, in accordance with the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the State of California, hereby commute Sara Kruzan’s murder sentence to 25 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 31st Day of December, 2010.
_______________________________
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
From the Free Sara Kruzan committee:
WHILE WE ALL HOPED AND PRAYED THAT SARA’S SENTENCE WOULD BE COMPLETELY VACATED THE COMMUTE IS A HUGE STEP. WE CAN NOW MOVE FORWARD WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT SARA WILL BE FREE.
THIS COMMUTE DOES NOT MEAN THAT SARA CANNOT GO BACK TO COURT SEEKING OTHER REMEDIES TO HER SENTENCE. I WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP EVERYONE UPDATED!!
WE THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!
TOGETHER WE STAND TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!
Happy New Year!!!
KIM DEANNE
email: kimdeanne@freesarakruzan.org
website: http/www.freesarakruzan.org