Killer of San Diego cop should be freed, California parole board recommends
A state Parole Board on Thursday recommended release from prison for Jesus Cecena, who was convicted of murdering San Diego Police Officer Archie Buggs during a traffic stop more than three decades ago.
The decision marks the third time since 2014 that a Parole Board has cleared the way for Cecena to be released. Twice before, in 2014 and 2015, that decision was subsequently overturned by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Now Brown will have to again decide if it is time for Cecena, who was 17 at the time of the shooting and is now a graying 55-year-old man with bad knees, should get out of prison.
The decision came after a four-hour hearing in a windowless room inside the Valley State Prison in Chowchilla, where Cecena is an inmate. It is also likely to spur an outcry from law enforcement organizations — just as it did in 2014 and 2015 when the board acted similarly, and those groups called on Brown to overturn the decision.
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