RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan challenges parole denial

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Sirhan, the man who assassinated presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, released him from prison Wednesday by overturning California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s refusal to grant him parole earlier this year. I am asking the judge to release me.

Sirhan shot Kennedy shortly after the U.S. Senators in New York declared victory in California’s pivotal Democratic presidential primary. rice field.

Newsom reported in January that Sirhan remain a threat Publicly disclosed and not responsible for the following crimes: changed American history.

However, his attorney, Angela Berry, said there was no evidence that her client, now 78, was still in danger.

She is asking a judge to file what is known as a writ of habeas corpus and rule that Newsom violated state law. The law states that prisoners should be released on parole unless they present an unreasonable public safety risk. Recent California law also required the parole board to consider that Sirhan committed the crime when she was 24 and is now an elderly prisoner.

Berry said he was challenging the governor’s revocation as an “abuse of discretion,” a denial of Sirhan’s constitutional right to due process, and a violation of California law. He also alleges that Newsom misrepresented the facts in his decision.

Berry said the governor “acted with personal bias, introduced the wrong law, ignored evidence of mitigation, and did not give Sirhan the same rights as others eligible for parole.” rice field.

Newsom dismissed two parole commissioners that Sirhan discovered. was no longer a riskMr Newsom said Christian Palestinians who immigrated from Jordan could not deny the violence committed in his name and were at increased risk of inciting political violence.

The ruling split the iconic Kennedy family, with RFK’s two sons, Douglas Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., supporting his release. However, RFK’s wife Ethel Kennedy and his six of Kennedy’s nine surviving children opposed his parole.

Newsom cites RFK as his political hero and keeps pictures of RFK in both his official affairs and home office, including those of Kennedy and his late father. Berry accused him of politicizing the parole process.

Berry accused Newsom of “putting political goals and agendas ahead of the Constitution.”

Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Newsom, a Democrat, has spent recent months trying to gain national recognition by calling out Republicans, particularly the governor and governor of Florida. texasNewsom is running for re-election in November, but provoked speculation He has presidential ambitions, which he has repeatedly denied.

It’s unclear how quickly a judge will decide on Berry’s petition, and either side may appeal the unfavorable decision. will receive

Sirhan was originally sentenced to death, but that sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when the California Supreme Court temporarily outlawed the death penalty in 1972.

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