In a stunning move, the Placer County Superior Court granted the petition for writ of habeas corpus filed on behalf of a man who received a 50 year to life sentence based solely on his alleged possession of two firearms -- a handgun and a hunting rifle. Richard Johnson was on a hunting trip with his son when officials allegedly discovered him with the two guns.
Randy S. Kravis, a Los Angeles based
criminal appellate attorney, filed the habeas corpus petition on behalf of Johnson, arguing that he was misled into pleading guilty. Kravis avered in the petition that the man legitimately believed that he would receive a sentence of no more than six years in prison and had no legitimate idea he would receive a sentence as high as 50 years to life. It was unclear from the record whether six years was what the trial judge had promised or whether his defense attorney misconstrued the judge's in-chambers comments. Either way, argued Kravis, Johnson deserved to have his sentence vacated and his guilty plea set aside because his plea was neither knowingly nor intelligently made. On March 25, 2011, the judge hearing the habeas petition agreed and ordered Johnson's sentence and plea set aside.
Kravis is the same criminal appellate attorney who last year, along with co-counsel Bruce Zucker, successfully convinced the California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Two, that his client, Nicholas Torres, had been wrongfully extended on parole past his end date. The Court of Appeal issued a published decision in favor of Torres that is now considered established law on the subject of parole. To learn more about Kravis and his California criminal appeals law office, please visit http://www.randykravis.com/.
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