California woman who killed pimp as teen is free on parole

[garbon]

http://news.yahoo.com/california-woman-killed-pimp-teen-free-parole-221756500.html

A California woman who served nearly two decades in prison for killing her pimp at age 16 was released on parole on Thursday, after becoming the face of a campaign to reform the treatment of young offenders.

Sara Kruzan, 35, left the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla before dawn, state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Luis Patino said in a statement.

Kruzan was taken to Orange County in Southern California, where she will live, and processed at a parole office, Patino said.

Earlier this week, when California Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat, upheld her parole, the decision was hailed as a watershed moment by lawmakers and activists who had fought on her behalf for more than five years.

State Senator Leland Yee called Kruzan the poster child for a bill that became law this year, allowing offenders sentenced to life without parole for crimes committed before age 18 the chance to petition for a new hearing on their sentence.

Kruzan, who advocates say was raised by an abusive, drug-addicted single mother, said in a 2009 Human Rights Watch video that she was sexually assaulted at age 11 by George Howard, the man she would later kill.

Within two years, Howard had her working as a child prostitute. In March 1994, then 16-year-old Kruzan shot him to death in a motel room in Riverside, California.

Kruzan lost a bid to stand trial as a juvenile and a Riverside County jury found her guilty of first-degree murder.

A judge sentenced her to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The Human Rights Watch video, in which she expresses remorse for the crime and describes her grim life as a prostitute, drew widespread attention to her case.

The year after the video was released, then-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, commuted her prison sentence to 25 years to life, which made her eligible to be considered for parole.

Earlier this year, the California Board of Parole Hearings found her suitable for release, sending their recommendation to Brown, who notified the board on Monday that he would not intervene to stop her from being released.

At the risk of sounding like Tim - all of that is pretty intense.

[Grinning_Colossus]

That's that sort of thing that should probably have been pardoned right away. 

[Zanza]

she was sexually assaulted at age 11 by George Howard, the man she would later kill.

Within two years, Howard had her working as a child prostitute. In March 1994, then 16-year-old Kruzan shot him to death in a motel room in Riverside, California.

Laugh about lenient European homicide laws all you want, but that girl should not have gone to prison at all in my opinion. Much less life without parole.

[DontSayBanana]

she was sexually assaulted at age 11 by George Howard, the man she would later kill.

Within two years, Howard had her working as a child prostitute. In March 1994, then 16-year-old Kruzan shot him to death in a motel room in Riverside, California.

Laugh about lenient European homicide laws all you want, but that girl should not have gone to prison at all in my opinion. Much less life without parole.

Because running away wasn't an option.

Agree the sentence was insane, though; mostly the fault of the prosecutors.  In their shoes, I would have charged manslaughter, 5-10, in exchange for some token gesture.

[Zanza]

Because running away wasn't an option.

I don't know, was it?

[DontSayBanana]

Because running away wasn't an option.

I don't know, was it?

If the dude had her shackled to a bed or something, she probably wouldn't have had access to a gun to kill the dude, now, would she?

[merithyn]

Because running away wasn't an option.

I don't know, was it?

If the dude had her shackled to a bed or something, she probably wouldn't have had access to a gun to kill the dude, now, would she?

There are a lot more ways to coerce someone into staying in a horrible situation than shackles.

I'm with the Euros on this one. Slap on the wrist, and then some serious therapy to try to undo what that monster (and her mother) did to her.

[Admiral Yi]

There are a lot more ways to coerce someone into staying in a horrible situation than shackles.

Yet clearly they didn't work.

[Barrister]

All the info about her upbringing is self-reported (at lest in this article).

Sentencing for youths in general is tricky - you are dealing with people without fully formed frontal lobes.  It seems unfair to me to put someone on a life sentence because of what they did as a youth.  However, you can't sent out the message that youths can kill with impunity either.  And so even if the victim "had it coming", the law can't allow you to murder that person.

[dps]

All the info about her upbringing is self-reported (at lest in this article).

Yeah, if the allegations are true, this kid shouldn't have been tried as an adult in the first place. 

[Siege]

Did she claim self-defense?

[Razgovory]

All the info about her upbringing is self-reported (at lest in this article).

Yeah, if the allegations are true, this kid shouldn't have been tried as an adult in the first place.

She shouldn't be tried as an adult regardless of the allegations, because she wasn't an adult.