In re Sanchez

Adam Sanchez challenges on habeas corpus the decision of the Board of Parole Hearings (Board) finding him unsuitable for parole at his third parole eligibility hearing, 17 years after he shot and paralyzed a rival gang member in a driveby shooting Sanchez committed when he was 16 years old. Among other findings, the Board concluded Sanchez posed a danger to society if released on parole because he did not admit he directed the driver, a more senior member of Sanchez’s gang, towards Bristol Street in Santa Ana, where they came upon the eventual victim riding his bicycle. The Board also found probative of future dangerousness Sanchez’s denial he was a “vice president” of his gang. He acknowledged that though he had only been a member for nine or 10 months, his peers in the “juvenile, youngsters” wing of the gang may have viewed him as a leader because of his “commitment to the gang,” but he explained there was no “vice president” or similar title available to young members.

As we explain, the record does not support the Board’s conclusions Sanchez minimized his role in the offense or in his gang, or that the commitment offense alone or his assertedly “unstable social…