Galbraith v. Hooper
| Decision Date | 09 March 2022 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action 19-181-JWD-EWD |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Louisiana |
| Parties | SAMUEL GALBRAITH v. TIMOTHY HOOPER, ET AL. |
Please take notice that the attached Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation has been filed with the Clerk of the U.S District Court.
In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), you have 14 days after being served with the attached report to file written objections to the proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law, and recommendations set forth therein. Failure to file written objections to the proposed findings, conclusions and recommendations within 14 days after being served will bar you, except upon grounds of plain error, from attacking on appeal the unobjected-to proposed factual findings and legal conclusions accepted by the District Court.
ABSOLUTELY NO EXTENSION OF TIME SHALL BE GRANTED TO FILE WRITTEN OBJECTIONS TO THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S REPORT.
MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Before this Court is the application of Petitioner Samuel Galbraith (“Petitioner”) for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. There is no need for oral argument or for an evidentiary hearing. As the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Parole violated Petitioner's due process rights when it arbitrarily and without notice rescinded his parole in violation of Louisiana's statutory and administrative rules, it is recommended that Petitioner's habeas application be granted. Additionally because the facts are clear that the Parole Board did not rescind Petitioner's parole for a reason permitted under the applicable statutes, it is recommended that Petitioner be released within thirty (30) days, subject to the parole conditions set forth by Parole Board in its original decision on November 3, 2016.
On February 1, 2000, Petitioner was charged in the Thirtieth Judicial District Court for the Parish of Vernon with first degree murder and attempted aggravated rape of Karen Hill perpetrated on November 21, 1988.[1] On February 3, 2000, Petitioner pled guilty to manslaughter and attempted aggravated rape, receiving a total sentence of seventy-one (71) years.[2] The sentences were to run consecutively and were subject to diminution for good behavior. On November 16, 2000, James Hill (“Hill”), the surviving spouse of the victim, completed a Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections Victim/Witness Notification Request Form, asking for notification by the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Parole (“Parole Board”) when a hearing is granted.[3] The record does not contain a similar form from any other individuals.
Sometime in the spring of 2016 Petitioner filed an Application for Parole.[4] On July 7, 2016, the Parole Board sent two notification letters regarding Petitioner's upcoming October 13, 2016 parole hearing. The first letter went to Hill at the Texas address provided on his Notification Request Form.[5] The second letter went to Jessie McWilliams (“McWilliams”), the victim's mother, at an incorrect address in Albany, New York.[6] The October 13, 2016 parole hearing never occurred because Petitioner's attorney requested a continuance, which was granted.[7] The hearing was reset to November 3, 2016.[8]
New notification letters were sent to Hill and McWilliams advising of the hearing on November 3, 2016.[9] This time, the letter to McWilliams went to her correct address in Albany, Illinois.[10] Hill and McWilliams were also asked to provide a statement for the pre-parole investigation report.[11] The pre-parole investigation report, dated October 17, 2016, contains statements from Hill and McWilliams opposing parole.[12] The pre-parole investigation report also contains statements from the Vernon Parish District Attorney's Office, the Vernon Parish Sheriff's Office, and the Vernon Parish sentencing judge opposing parole.[13] The Parole Board also received a letter from the Vernon Parish District Attorney's Office advising that it “strongly object[ed]” to parole, [14] and a detailed letter from Hill about the impact of his wife's murder and his objection to parole.[15]
At the November 3, 2016 parole hearing, Chairperson Cheryl Renatza (“Renatza”), Jim Wise, and Pearl Wise unanimously voted to grant Petitioner parole. Among the reasons noted were, “good support, ” “good plan, ” “good conduct, ” “good programs, ” “has emp[loyment] plan, ” “taken all programs, ” and “will be a tax-payer and not a tax burden.”[16] According to the Pardon Board Decision Form, dated November 3, 2016, Petitioner's release was conditioned upon approval of residence, a low Static99 Score, and approval of out-of-state plan.[17] Neither Hill nor McWilliams attended the November 3, 2016 hearing, but each was contacted by someone from the Department of Corrections and notified of the decision.[18]
Shortly after parole was granted, the District Attorney of Vernon Parish, Asa Skinner (“Skinner”), began contacting the Parole Board to express his outrage at the decision to grant parole. Skinner sent a letter on November 15, 2016, [19] two letters on November 30, 2016, [20] and a letter on January 9, 2017.[21] Skinner requested the Parole Board reconsider its decision. On February 2, 2017, Renatza responded to Skinner's correspondence and advised that the Parole Board unanimously voted to grant parole based on suitability for release and could not reconsider its decision to grant parole because the information Skinner provided did not meet the criteria for rehearing based on Parole Board policy.[22]
McWilliams wrote to Skinner on November 18, 2016. In that letter McWilliams states that she was contacted by phone to provide a statement in anticipation of the parole hearing because her “paperwork had been sent to New York so there would not be enough time for me to be at the hearing….”.[23] McWilliams also contacted the Parole Board requesting they reconsider their decision.[24] Skinner and McWilliams also gave interviews to the press expressing disagreement with the Parole Board's decision to grant Petitioner's parole.[25]
In early April 2017, Parole Board and Department of Corrections personnel made the final preparations for Petitioner's release.[26] On April 10, 2017, Mary Fuentes of the Parole Board sent an email to Deputy Executive Counsel to Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards expressing her concern regarding a news story that was set to air on April 13, 2017 regarding Galbraith's parole.[27]On April 11, 2017, Renatza executed a “Single Member Action Sheet, ” unilaterally adding electronic monitoring as a condition of Petitioner's parole.[28]
On April 20, 2017, three days before Petitioner's scheduled release date, the Parole Board received notice that Texas accepted the electronic monitoring conditions and issued a certificate of parole signed by Renatza with a release date of April 23, 2017.[29] On April 21, 2017, two days before Petitioner was set to be released, Mary-Patricia Wray, a lobbyist with Top Drawer Strategies, sent an email at 7:59 a.m. to Governor Edwards' Special Counsel, Erin Monroe Wesley:
The news story referred to in Wray's email aired on April 20, 2017 and included an interview with Skinner, who stated that Petitioner was responsible for the murders of two additional women in Vernon Parish, though Petitioner was never charged with either murder.[31]The news story showed the pictures of the three parole board members who voted to grant Galbraith parole and included interviews with Hill and with McWilliams, who stated her victim notification went to Albany, New York instead of Albany, Illinois.[32]
Following the airing of the news story on April 20, 2021, Petitioner's records show a notation on the “Hearing Docket Record” at 11:30 a.m. on April 21, 2017, “Rescind pending per Mary F[uentes].”[33] A “Parole Board Action Sheet, ” signed only by Board member, Jim Wise, on April 21, 2017, states “there may have been a techical [sic] irregularity to victim notice.”[34] Petitioner was not released from prison on his scheduled release date of April 23, 2017. He was provided with a letter from the Parole Board dated May 1, 2017, which stated:
The Parole Board also issued the following press release:
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