CALIFORNIA PRISONS
Rich Ibarra, Capital Public Radio
Stockton prisons are now allowing incarcerated parents to read stories to their children through audio recordings.
Jevon Sanford, a California Youth Authority ward, is among these parents. The 21-year-old is currently serving a four-year sentence.
“Hello baby, this is Daddy right here," Sanford says. "I’m going to read you a story, I hope you like it.”
Gabrielle Karol, KXTV
Roy Ruiz is in the same place his father was when he was first born: a California youth correctional facility.
But the 19-year-old is determined to end the pattern. Ruiz plans to get out – and stay out – for his toddler son, Jayden.
“Right now, I’m following in my dad’s footsteps in doing what he did to me, but I’m trying to make myself better,” Ruiz said.
CBS 13 News
Jevon Sanford, 21, is recording himself for the first time reading a Disney book to his 3-year-old daughter Kimora.
Recordnet.com
STOCKTON - "Hi, baby, this is daddy right here," Jevon Sanford said. "I'm going to read you a story. I hope you like it, ma."
Sanford, sitting in a quiet room, began reading through the spring-themed Disney princesses book "Beauties in Bloom."
The 21-year-old chose the book because daughter Keymarah is his "beautiful princess," he said.
Sanford doesn't know much about his first and only child, whose name is tattooed in cursive across his wrist.
CALIFORNIA PAROLE
KPCC
The City of Fullerton will consider repealing residency restrictions on sex offenders at its Tuesday City Council meeting.
The city currently prohibits registered sex offenders from residing within 2,000 ft. of any school, park or day care center. But a 2015 California Supreme Court decision struck down similar restrictions in San Diego County, and the decision has been widely interpreted as a rollback of statewide residency restrictions established by voters in 2006 through Proposition 83, known as Jessica’s Law.
The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws contends that many cities, including Fullerton, have residency restrictions on the books that run contrary to the state Supreme Court ruling. Attorney Janice Bellucci, who heads the organization, sued Fullerton in September on behalf of a registered sex offender who allegedly couldn’t live in the city because the restrictions cover such a wide area.
Christine Pelisek, People
Bruce Davis, a former member of the notorious Manson “family,” was recommended for parole from a California prison Wednesday, PEOPLE confirms.
“Inmate Bruce Davis was found suitable for parole at his parole suitability hearing at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo,” reads a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation statement obtained by PEOPLE.
Davis, 74, is currently serving a life sentence for the July 25, 1969, murder of musician Gary Hinman and the killing of stuntman Donald “Shorty” Shea in August 1969.
Patricia Park was released from the high-security Valley State Prison in Chowchilla, California, after serving 16 years
Lynn McPherson, Daily Record
A killer sentenced to life in prison for murdering her millionaire husband has made a renewed plea to return home to Scotland.
Patricia Park was released from the high-security Valley State Prison in Chowchilla, California, in 2011 after serving 16 years.
But strict parole conditions prohibit her travelling more than 50 miles from her home, meaning she is unable to leave the state.
Erin Tracy, The Modesto Bee
A convicted rapist who only served half of his six-year sentence now could get a longer stay in prison after a Stanislaus County jury convicted him of a crime he committed while on parole.
Matthew Deante Morgan, 24, of Modesto, was convicted last month of resisting an officer by force, following a two-day jury trial. Morgan twice cut off his ankle monitor and remained a fugitive at large for months before he was finally captured and held without bail on the resisting charge.
DEATH PENALTY
Christopher Goffard, The Los Angeles Times
Steven Dean Gordon, the serial killer who says he deserves to die for his crimes, found no disagreement last year from the jury nor, on Friday, from the judge.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Patrick H. Donahue sentenced Gordon to death for the abduction and murder of four women who had been working as prostitutes in Santa Ana and Anaheim in 2013 and 2014.
In December, a jury convicted the 47-year-old Gordon of the murders and voted that he should die.
Sean Emery, The Orange County Register
SANTA ANA – Serial killer Steven Gordon spent two years begging for the death penalty – on Friday, an Orange County Superior Court judge made his wish come true.
Gordon – who served as his own attorney and openly admitted to the abductions and murders of four women – teared up during his sentencing as he listened to emotional statements from the victims’ families.
“I’m sorry for everything, but those are hollow words compared to what those women went through,” Gordon said. “I truly am sorry. I know that doesn’t mean anything, but I’m sorry.”
CORRECTIONS RELATED
Bakersfield Now
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — A fourth suspect has been arrested in an Arvin murder case.
The body of Jose Joel Salazar, seen here, was found last month inside his truck in an orchard.
Late last month, Arvin police announced three suspects were arrested: 27-year-old Javier Lopez, 19-year-old Ana Banos and 24-year-old Jorge Sosa.
Sonja Eschenburg, Paso Robles Press
PASO ROBLES — Although many wouldn’t guess it, the EL Paso de Robles Youth Correctional Facility, located at 4545 Airport Road, is one of the city’s most historic landmarks. The facility, originally used as the Estrella Army Corps base during World War II, was soon acquired by the California Department of Corrections and made into the “El Paso de Robles School for Boys” due to an inconsistent juvenile offender population. The facility repeatedly closed and reopened, eventually as the “El Paso de Robles Youth Correction Facility.” The facility, which faced this pattern for years to come, finally closed permanently in 2009 and has been vacant ever since.