In re Stevenson

Respondent Rick Hill, Warden at Folsom State Prison, appeals from the superior court’s December 9, 2011 order granting inmate James L. Stevenson’s petition for writ of habeas corpus and compelling the Board of Parole Hearings (Board) to provide petitioner a new parole consideration hearing. 1 Petitioner James L. Stevenson is currently serving an indeterminate life term for a 1998 conviction of kidnapping to commit robbery (Pen. Code, § 209, subd. (b)).

We reverse the court’s order granting habeas corpus relief.

I

Procedural History

On May 20, 2011, James L. Stevenson filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging the Board’s June 17, 2010 denial of parole on the grounds that (1) the Board had found him unsuitable for parole without “some evidence” of current dangerousness and (2) the Board had “failed to provide a nexus or reasoning between the negative factors it found and its conclusion that petitioner is currently dangerous.” In support of the first ground, the petition stated among other facts: “The Board claimed my risk assessments were negative, but they placed me in the low/moderate range for risk of violent recidivism, with any elevation beyond low…