Schwarzenegger wrote that Morgan posed “a current, unreasonable risk to public safety.” And he noted that Morgan had at one point claimed that the shotgun had gone off accidentally, although he later acknowledged his guilt to the parole board.
“So I was devastated when Schwarzenegger denied my release,” said Morgan, who now is majoring in business management at San Francisco State. “I felt I was a political pawn who would never get out.”
In 2011, Brown approved his release after 24 years in prison. Brown made no comment in granting Morgan his release. Instead, the governor signaled his approval by taking no action within 30 days of the parole board’s decision becoming official.
“It’s been a remarkable and unexpected change,” said Johanna Hoffman, Morgan’s lawyer who has represented hundreds of lifers vying for parole since becoming a California lawyer in 2008. “The overcrowding issue has a huge amount to do with it.”
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Associated Press data journalist Serdar Tumgoren contributed to this report.
Article Appeared @http://news.yahoo.com/california-39-lifers-39-leaving-prison-record-pace-154100330.html