Appeal could expedite parole hearing for convicted murderer

Lynzie Lowe, Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.
·4 min read
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Aug. 26—After being denied a parole hearing in 2021, convicted murderer Nathen Ramazzini may soon get an expedited hearing after his appeal to the 2020 Senate Bill 394 ruling was heard in a Sacramento Appeals Court on Wednesday.

According to Colusa County Assistant District Attorney Brenden Farrell, who spoke at the hearing on behalf on the victim's family, the justices had a lot of questions during the hearing about whether the Colusa County District Attorney's Office — who has represented the victim's family — had the standing to bring the case before the court based on the parameters of California's Marcy's Law.

Farrell said the district attorney's office brought the case to the courts on behalf of Devin Lombardi, the sister of Erik Ingebretsen, who was killed by Ramazzini and another friend, Leopoldo Contreras, in July 1997. According to Farrell, Lombardi requested that the district attorney's office act on her behalf, as outlined in the California Mercy's Law, but the justices questioned whether this was permissible under the law or if Lombardi should have sought representation from a private attorney.

Farrell, on the behalf of Lombardi, filed a Petition for Writ of Prohibition in Colusa County Superior Court in the summer of 2018, suing the Board of Parole Hearings over its enforcement of SB 394. The lawsuit was later transferred to Sacramento County Superior Court. Farrell argued that the bill was passed unconstitutionally without a two-thirds vote needed in the Assembly because it amends a law created by a proposition.

Ramazzini's lawyers argued early in the case that the district attorney's office did not have standing to bring the lawsuit and filed their own writ in the Third District Court of Appeals that was denied by the court in 2020 before the final ruling was made.

The November 2020 People of the State of California vs. the Board of Parole Hearings ruling, made by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge James P. Arguelles, sided with the Colusa County District Attorney's Office and indicated that the passage of SB 394 violated the California Constitution, and therefore, prevented Ramazzini from presenting his case before the parole board in 2021.

Ramazzini was convicted of the special circumstances — first degree murder of Ingebretsen after luring him to a remote location just north of Colusa in July 1997 to be beaten and stabbed. Both were 16 at the time of the incident.

Before Ingebretsen was found, his disappearance sparked trepidation in the small, tight-knit community of Colusa and local residents, including Ramazzini, joined local law enforcement to form search parties to canvas the surrounding areas.

Ingebretsen's body was discovered July 17, 1997, abandoned in a wooded area along the Sacramento River with cuts on the back of the head, a deep gash on his neck that went to the bone and four stab wounds to the chest. Additional stab wounds were also found on his abdomen and the right side of his body.

Ramazzini admitted having a baseball bat and a butcher knife ready in his car when the two boys drove Ingebretsen out to the woods that night.

In his testimony, Ramazzini said he hit Ingebretsen with the bat four times, delivering what a forensic pathologist testifying at the original trial called "death blows."

"I had anger inside within me, and I believe I directed it towards Erik when I murdered him," said Ramazzini during his testimony.

As of Wednesday, Farrell said there is no timeline as to when the justices will make their final decision.

Should the appeal be granted, Ramazzini's parole hearing will be expedited since it was due to take place in July 2021.

If granted parole at the hearing, the long-time efforts by the Ingebretsen family and the Colusa County District Attorney's Office to keep Ramazzini behind bars would come to an end.

If parole is denied, Ramazzini would receive a transfer hearing where his case would once again be heard in juvenile court to determine if the case would be transferred to adult court.

Ramazzini was entitled to a resentencing hearing in October 2019 under Senate Bill 9 but Colusa County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey A. Thompson upheld his original life sentence at that time.

SB 9, enacted in 2012, allows prisoners convicted as juveniles who have served at least 15 years of a life sentence to petition the court to be resentenced. The original sentencing court can decide if a lesser penalty is warranted but the law only applies to convicts who were 18 or under at the time of sentencing.