Attorney Training Overview Guidelines
Life Parole Consideration Hearings
Mentally Disordered Offender Hearings
Sexually Violent Predator Hearings
Life Parole Consideration Hearings:
These hearings are
conducted pursuant to the authority provided to BPT by Penal Code Section
3041. Pursuant to PC Section
3042, the district attorney (DA) of the county of commitment will be
notified of the hearing date, time, and location so that the DA
may appear or submit a letter regarding a recommendation.
Pursuant to PC Section 3043, the victim of the commitment offense,
or next of kin, may appear personally or by attorney and make a statement.
Prior to a lifer hearing,
an assigned attorney should review the inmate’s Central File located at
the institution. All lifer
inmates are entitled to representation by an attorney at their hearings.
Please see section on attorney assignments for those inmates who
will not be allowed to waive representation (e.g. EOP, DD, or determined
to not be able to make a knowing, voluntary, and intelligent waiver).
CDC institutions often
require a minimum of two days notice from attorneys who wish to meet with
their clients. This is
generally to provide enough time to ducat the inmate for the visit and to
process gate clearance for the attorney.
Each institution should be contacted regarding attorney visiting
policy.
As mentioned earlier,
hearing panels consist of one Commissioner and one DC.
If a district attorney is in attendance, he/she will be allowed to
ask questions and make a closing statement.
The inmate and the assigned attorney will also be allowed to make a
statement regarding suitability. If
victims or victim’s next of kin are present, they will make the final
statement regarding suitability and may not be questioned by the inmate or
the assigned attorney.
As with revocation
hearings, formal rules of evidence do not apply in life parole
consideration hearings. All
relevant evidence is admissible and testimony from witnesses and arresting
officers is not taken. The
hearing panel’s decision will be based on the information and testimony
presented during the hearing, relevant information in the inmate’s
Central File, and documents submitted prior to the hearing (e.g.
letter’s of support, etc.).
After the hearing, the
panel will deliberate and make a decision regarding suitability. The BPT will send the inmate a written decision.
The assigned attorney can also have the written decision sent to
them if they make such a request on the record.
Depending on the nature of the commitment offense, the Governor can either reverse a parole suitability decision or request that the full Board (En Banc) reconsider the parole decision (See Penal Code Sections 3041.1 and 3041.2).