Sacramento Co. judge to hear arguments in case seeking to overturn Schwarzenegger commutation

Juliet Williams, The Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A California judge will hear arguments Friday over whether former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger violated state law when he cut the manslaughter sentence for the son of a political ally just hours before he left office last year.

Lawsuits filed by the San Diego district attorney and the victim's family claim Schwarzenegger violated the law because he did not notify the victims' families or the district attorney who prosecuted the case that he was cutting the sentence of Esteban Nunez from 16 years to seven.

Schwarzenegger issued the commutation hours before he left office in January 2011 and just months after the sentencing of Nunez, the son of the governor's political ally, Fabian Nunez.

The attorney general's office, arguing on behalf of Schwarzenegger, has sought to have the case thrown out several times, and will do so again on Friday. Its attorneys argue that the law does not apply to a governor's power to pardon and commute sentences and say he had "unfettered discretion to grant clemency without judicial review."

The attorney general's office argues in briefs filed this month that the plaintiffs are seeking resolution of a political question, rather than a legal one.

Esteban Nunez pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in a 2008 attack on an unarmed group of young men after Nunez and some friends were turned away from a party. Three others pleaded guilty to various charges in the attack that killed 22-year-old college student Luis Santos.

Attorneys for the Nunez family and San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis say Schwarzenegger blatantly violated the state constitution with his last-minute decision, ignored the victims' due process rights and acted "in an arbitrary and capricious manner."

Esteban Nunez, who is now 23, is incarcerated. His father is a political consultant in Sacramento, the state capital.

Current Gov. Jerry Brown in October signed a bill written in response to the controversy over Nunez's commutation. It requires the governor to give at least 10 days' notice to the district attorney in the jurisdiction where the crime occurred before acting on an application for clemency. That would give the district attorney time to notify crime victims and allow them to petition against a sentence reduction.