In Re Ross

In November 1984, when he was 27 years old, Timothy Ellis Ross (defendant) and another man decided to rob Kelly Marshall (the victim). Defendant beat the victim into unconsciousness and then, with the other man’s help, threw the victim, “head first, face down,” over an embankment after they took his wallet and his boots. The victim’s dead body was discovered the next day. A citizen’s tip led to defendant’s arrest and his guilty plea to second degree murder. He was sentenced to an indeterminate term of 15 years to life in state prison.

In May 2006, the Board of Parole Hearings (the Board) found that defendant was suitable for parole; however, in October 2006, the Governor reversed the Board’s decision to release defendant on parole. Acknowledging defendant’s rehabilitative efforts in prison, his positive evaluations by mental health and correctional professionals, and his work plans and relationships with family and friends if released on parole, the Governor found that defendant’s criminal history, the “extremely brutal and callous” nature of the murder, and his misconduct in state prison, including threatening prison staff, demonstrated that despite his rehabilitative…