In Re Moses

Petitioner Bennie Moses was 30 years old on Thanksgiving Day in 1979 when he and his brother drove around Oakland, California, visiting family and friends. At one of their stops, Moses, having consumed copious amounts of alcohol and talked about “getting even,” visited Willie Rhodes, whose brother had killed Moses’s father in a gambling dispute five years before. Moses shot Rhodes once at close range, killing him, and fled. He voluntarily surrendered to police later that day. A jury found Moses guilty of second degree murder; the trial court sentenced him to serve 17 years to life in prison. Moses was sent to prison in 1980. Under California’s statutory parole scheme he was presumptively eligible for release over a dozen years ago.

Moses’s behavior in prison has been exemplary. He has a nearly spotless disciplinary record (his only instance of misconduct was watching television without using the required headphones 27 years ago). He has performed years of outstanding work in the prison laundry. He has shown insight into the causes of his actions and worked to understand and change his behavior by engaging in decades of self-help programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)…