Luis Santos was 22 years old when he was stabbed to death during a late night brawl near San Diego State University. What came out later was that one of the men who pulled a weapon and stabbed a friend of Santos’ during the fight was Esteban Nunez, the son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. The younger Nunez was eventually sentenced to 16 years in prison for his part in the brawl. But just as former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was on his way out of office he shortened Nunez’s sentence to just seven years as a favor to his friend Fabian Nunez. Schwarzenegger apparently forgot to let the San Diego District Attorney or the victim’s family know his plan. Yesterday San Diego D.A Bonnie Dumanis announced that her office filed a civil suit seeking to overturn the Schwarzenegger’s commutation saying it violates Marsy’s Law, which gives certain rights to victims. Dumanis says this is the first lawsuit of its kind, so the question is, will it work? Governors routinely make last minute deals on their way out of office, but in this case was it unconstitutional? Schwarzenegger makes no bones about the fact that he did his friend Fabian a solid by commuting his son’s sentence. Is that an appropriate use of gubernatorial power?
Guests:
Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times Writer
Bonnie Dumanis, San Diego County District Attorney