In Re McGraw

In 1981, David H. McGraw was convicted after trial by jury of second degree murder with use of a firearm and sentenced to a 17-year-to-life term. In 2007, a panel of the Board of Parole Hearings (Board) found him not suitable for parole. We will reverse the Board's decision and remand for reconsideration by the Board in light of intervening Supreme Court clarification of the law of parole suitability. We will intimate no opinion about whether the Board should find McGraw suitable for parole.

On the afternoon of November 18, 1980, McGraw and his 22-year-old stepson Terry played several games of pool and drank a large quantity of beer at a Kern County bar. [1] In the presence of his wife Patricia, his daughter Tiffany, and his other stepson, Danny, he threatened Terry with a knife during an argument he and Terry had about Danny. McGraw and Terry left the bar and went home.

Time passed, but Terry did not return to the bar, so Patricia called home, but no one answered, so she, Danny, and Tiffany went home to look for him. Danny and Tiffany went inside, ran back outside, and Danny told Patricia he saw blood everywhere. Patricia returned to the bar and talked with a…