District Attorney Jason Anderson addresses Senate Public Safety Committee, opposes SB 94
San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson was in Sacramento Tuesday to oppose a proposed bill allowing relief for high-security facility inmates.
Anderson testified in front of the Senate Public Safety Committee in opposition to Senate Bill 94, which would allow "death row and life without the possibility of parole" to circumvent decades of judicial oversight affirming their guilt and sentence.
“Disregarding decades of jurisprudence, the Senate Public Safety Committee voted to pass SB 94, with a vote this morning of 4-1 in favor of moving it forward,” Anderson said.
The active bill now continues through the committee process.
SB 94 would allow the inmates sentenced before June 5, 1990, to petition a judge to reopen their cases for recall or resentencing and possible parole.
Anderson believes passing the bill would mean death row inmates like Kevin Cooper would be eligible for relief despite receiving a murder conviction.
Cooper was convicted in 1985 of murdering Doug and Peggy Ryen, their 10-year-old daughter, Jessica and 11-year-old Christopher Hughes. The Chino Hills couple’s 8-year-old son, Joshua, survived the attack.
In 2021, Newsom ordered an independent investigation into the high-profile clemency petition of Cooper, who maintains he is innocent. The investigation came after the NAACP Legal Defense Fund urged Newsom to order an "innocence investigation" on behalf of Cooper.
"Mr. Cooper is a Black man who has served over 35 years on death row, notwithstanding serious concerns about the integrity of the state's case and the risk that it was marred by racial discrimination," the group wrote.
Copper’s guilt has been declared by the investigation as "conclusive and exhaustive."
“Although Cooper fails to take accountability for his crimes, he is exactly who would benefit from this bill in the ability to petition for recall and resentencing,” Anderson stated.
It also means that inmate Bryan Mincy, who tortured and murdered the 5-year-old son of his then-girlfriend, would be eligible under SB 94.
“Mincy beat and tortured a child who suffered repetitive injuries and the shearing of tissues so severe his central nervous system collapsed,” Anderson said. “James's body had hundreds of injuries, virtually all of which could have been inflicted within 24 to 48 hours of his death. Mincy could petition for a second chance. A second chance his victim, 5-year-old James, never received.”
“SB 94 undermines all three foundations of our criminal justice system,” Anderson added. “It does not promulgate justice; it dispenses with justice.“
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: DA Jason Anderson addresses Senate Public Safety Committee, opposes SB 94
