"You have to go through some pain and work on yourself and come to the next hearing so prepared."
One thing is certain. If you are reading this page, you are not the person who got this advice at their last parole suitability hearing.
That person is stuck.
And you have no idea why your friend, or family member was denied parole yet again.
You know them. You know how they have changed.
And you are looking for a good parole lawyer who can fix it next time.
A parole attorney won't fix it. The lifer will.
Finding the right Parole Attorney
There are some very fine and dedicated parole lawyers in California.
They will represent your loved one far better than I could.
And they will build a record that can be used on appeal to challenge the findings of the board.
That's not what I do.
I stand by a very simple idea. If a prisoner
needs a lawyer at a parole hearing, then the only real issue is how the Marsy's Law dice is
rolled, and how long it will be until the next hearing.
Preparing for a Parole Hearing
A lifer needs a lawyer at least a year before the parole hearing. Prisoners rarely if ever talk about their crimes when they are in prison.
Yet at the parole hearing, they are expected to show remorse and insight, and need to understand the bad decisions that led to their crime.
There's a good reason for this.
Unless you understand these bad decisions, you may well repeat them. And the question before the parole board
isn't whether the crime was bad. It's whether the prisoner is currently a danger to the public.
The parole board will think the risk is high if the prisoner
cannot show "insight" into why they killed. Or at least of why they were convicted of murder.
There isn't a gentle way to say it. So lifers need to engage with the two parole commissioners, talk openly and
freely with them. But to do that, they need the space and the confidence to talk through what they
did and go beyond their own experience, without fear of comebacks. And the attorney-client privilege gives them that space.
The life prisoner also needs time. That may sound strange. Not time in the prison sense. Time to prepare. If you are not ready when you go into the parole hearing - if you haven't done the hard work - no parole attorney is going to
persuade the commissioners to give you a date. Only lessen the damage. Is that what you want?
Don't wait till the parole hearing is scheduled before starting work.
Working with me is not easy
I will take a case if the prisoner is ready for some very difficult work, even if they don't understand what they need to do.
I will consider clients anywhere in California - but if travel is difficult, I can only make a difference if the work starts at least a year
before the parole hearing. The work can even be done without face-to-face contact, and across the country. I have had a successful outcome
preparing a prisoner housed on the east coast.
For every hour
we engage with the prisoner, we expect at least four hours of challenging work in return. I expect about
100 intensive hours of work from a prisoner before he or she is ready to face the parole board again.
And a condition of engagement is that if a client is not ready 45 days out from the parole hearing, we waive (delay/postpone) the hearing for 3-6 months.
I am not interested in going through the motions to limit the damage of a denial.
I prefer to take a case as long as possible before a parole hearing date. This does not make it more expensive. I always welcome
the opportunuty to
work with people who only want to prepare and understand what they have to do. I'd rather get the work done five years out than five months
before a hearing. And the preparation is the same whether the lifer is a California state prisoner or from elsewhere.
You are found suitable for parole when you have changed. Not when you have performed well with the help of a lawyer.
You can start that work anytime.