In Re Tripp

INTRODUCTION

At issue in this case is whether petitioner BranDee Tripp is entitled to a parole release date. She is currently in prison because, on July 8, 1979, 10-year-old Tameron Carpenter was strangled to death by Hilton Tripp and Randy Cook. At the time, petitioner, bom in March 1959, was Hilton’s wife and the mother of his child. In February 1981, petitioner was convicted by guilty plea of second degree murder and was sentenced to prison for 15 years to life. (Pen. Code, § 187.) Under the plea agreement, other charges were dismissed, and petitioner agreed to testify against the man who solicited this murder, William Record, petitioner’s stepfather.

After a hearing on May 17, 2004, California’s Board of Prison Terms determined that petitioner, then age 45, was entitled to a parole date, as she “is suitable for parole and would not pose an unreasonable risk of danger to society or a threat to public safety if released from prison.” The Board had previously found petitioner suitable for parole after a hearing on November 6, 2002, and that decision was reversed on April 4, 2003, by Governor Davis.

The overarching concern of the Board in granting a prisoner a parole…