USC Law’s PCJP Wins Release of Client

 MEDIA ADVISORY

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER ALLOWS
RELEASE OF MOTHER SERVING 23 YEARS IN PRISON AND
REPRESENTED BY USC LAW STUDENT
 
USC Law student, inmate’s children available for interviews today at 2 p.m.  at USC Law

WHAT:  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did not reverse a parole board’s recommendation today to release a woman who spent 23 years in prison for the arson of a competitor’s clothing business in downtown Los Angeles. The fire resulted in the death of an individual who was asleep in the store.
Rosie Sanchez was represented by a USC Law student through the Post-Conviction Justice Project and has maintained her innocence. At her trial, the presiding judge said that, in his 59 years on the bench, Sanchez’s case is one of the few times justice was not served.

This is one of the rare instances when Schwarzenegger has not blocked a prisoner’s release on the Parole Board’s first grant of parole.
         
Sanchez will be released from California Institution for Women in three to five business days.
 
WHO: Jennifer Farrell, second-year law student; Michael Brennan, supervising attorney and USC Law professor; and Sanchez’s four children are available for press interviews at USC Law.
 
Farrell represented Sanchez through the USC Law Post-Conviction Justice Project. With the help of a supervising attorney and law professor, Farrell argued Sanchez’s case before the parole board, wrote all briefs and regularly met with Sanchez in prison. After arguing her case, the parole board recommended her release pointing to a stellar prison record. Governor Schwarzenegger did not block the parole board’s recommendation.
 
Sanchez’s children, who range in age from 27 to 31 years old, reside in Whittier, Norwalk, Anaheim and Riverside. All have attended college and hold professional jobs.
 
WHEN: 2 p.m. on the front steps of USC Law.
 
WHERE: USC Gould School of Law, 699 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, 90089.

FURTHER DETAILS: Call Gilien Silsby at (213) 740-9690 or (213) 500-8673.