Article by Benjamin Roussey
The attorneys of Alitowski & Moore will tell you that when law takes its course, even the Terminator can’t stop it. Recent events have exposed chinks in the seemingly all-powerful armor of the former Mr. Universe Arnold Schwarzenegger. Shortly following the announcement of his split with Maria Shriver, his wife of 25 years and the series of claims of his extra-marital misdemeanors from various quarters, Schwarzenegger found himself named in a civil lawsuit to overturn his last-minute gubernatorial decision to reduce the jail sentence of the son of a political ally.
Last-Minute Commutation and the Big Picture
Just hours before Schwarzenegger was scheduled to step down from the governor’s office, he reduced the prison sentence of Esteban Nunez from the original 16 years to seven years. Esteban Nunez, the son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, is serving the sentence for his role in the murder of a young college-goer during a fight. Fabian Nunez is widely perceived to have been a political ally of Schwarzenegger, which may have led the governor to reduce his son’s sentence, as many people seem to believe. Schwarzenegger defended his decision by arguing that Esteban Nunez deserved a lighter punishment than his co-defendant who has confessed to having delivered the fatal blow of knife to the victim during the stabbing incident. This is incredible because the incident would not have occurred if it was not for Esteban who assisted the knife wielder. Actually, both of these criminals deserve the death penalty in actuality.
The father of the murdered teenage college student, Fred Santos, has expressed his shock and outrage at the decision of sentence reduction. He states that the governor waited till his last day in office in the hope that the action would go undetected. He complains bitterly that the governor failed to extend a basic courtesy of notifying the victim’s family of this decision something that is common practice in DUI cases that involve injury. He has termed the governor’s decision a backroom deal that smacks of dirty politics of the worst kind. Fred Santos says that the message it sends out is that if you are the son of an important man, you can murder someone and expect to receive all sorts of breaks. Santos’s accusations are not falling on deaf ears and have a lot of merit behind them. It does not help either that Schwarzenegger was a failed governor or that Schwarzenegger now has his own issues that have blown up in his face.
A Lawsuit without Precedent
It seems that the lawsuit filed on behalf of the victim’s family by Bonnie Dumanis, a district attorney at San Diego County, is the first one of its kind. In addition to Schwarzenegger, the lawsuit also names the director of the State Department of Correction and Rehabilitation as well as the prison warden of Mule Creek Prison where Esteban Nunez is serving time. The civil lawsuit raises uncomfortable and challenging questions over the legal right of a governor to reduce sentences and grant pardons. If this lawsuit follows through with success, even presidents should shudder since Bill Clinton in 2000 did the same thing before George W. Bush inherited the White House. Clinton had some controversial pardons as well which insinuated dirty politics as well.
Until now such gubernatorial power has been considered unlimited and without any scope of review. It remains to be seen whether this case sets a new legal precedent to the powers of a governor. Dumanis has stated that this last-minute decision by the governor was taken without waiting to collect inputs and facts from the involved parties, which only fuels public mistrust in the government and appears to diminish justice greatly. Dumanis has put forward an argument that the governor had a legal obligation to notify the victim’s family as well as the prosecutors about the decision of sentence commutation, which was not fulfilled in this case.
Political Connection
Fabian Nunez, the father of the convict Esteban Nunez, is a Democrat from Los Angeles, who is believed to be a political ally of Schwarzenegger even both individuals belonged to different political parties. But Schwarzenegger is really just a Republican in name only; he is more if an Independent with many Democrat tendencies and leanings. This is why he was a failed governor and California is sinking into a financial abyss and is already bankrupt. The relationship between the two grew during Schwarzenegger’s term as governor. They worked closely to see the passage of California’s historic law on global warming which has only pushed jobs to states like Texas and even overseas. In addition to this law being based on faulty science and innuendo. At present Fabian Nunez is a business partner of Mercury Public Affairs, a consulting company run by Schwarzenegger’s former chief political advisor. Santos’s lawsuit has a lot of legal ground to stand on.
Marsy’s Law Cited in the Lawsuit
Dumanis has quoted Marsy’s Law in her lawsuit that is used as a protection for the victim’s rights in the event of a crime. Marsy’s Law actually refers to the ninth proposition of the Victim’s Bill of Rights Act of 2008. The act actually amends the California Constitution as well as the Penal Code as it offers extended protection for the victim’s legal rights in a case of crime. The act imposes restrictions against the early release of the convicts service a sentence as well as changes the parole grant procedures.
For questions about this article, please contact:
Alitowski & Moore
707 NE 3rd Avenue Suite 201
Fort Lauderdale FL 33304
954-523-5333
954-523-6938
888-275-2637
888-Ask-Andrew
testing