In re Swanigan

Fred Swanigan petitions for a writ of habeas corpus to overturn the April 3, 2014 decision of the Board of Parole Hearings (Board) finding him unsuitable for parole. After reviewing the record before us we conclude that no evidence supports the Board’s decision. Therefore, we grant the petition.

BACKGROUND

1. The Commitment Offense

In 1981, a jury convicted Swanigan, then 20 years old, of first degree murder. The jury found that he personally shot Ronald Como on September 10, 1980. The trial court sentenced him to 27 years to life in prison. At his 2014 hearing, the Board stated that Swanigan’s minimum eligible parole date was September 15, 1997. We describe the facts of the crime as stated in the Court of Appeal opinion affirming Swanigan’s conviction, because the Board relied on it. We note that Swanigan’s counsel did not raise a substantial evidence challenge on appeal, resulting in a mostly conclusory description of the crime facts. Where we rely on the testimony at the 2014 parole hearing, we so state.

We quote the opinion for the facts of the crime:

Swanigan was arrested on October 31, 1980. “He was placed in custody . . . and the investigating officer…