 Abused Woman's Freedom Could Herald New Era—By Rose Aguilar Published: October, 2004  Henrietta Briounes Henrietta Briones shot and killed her abusive boyfriend in 1986 during a confrontation in which she feared for her life and the lives of her children. She was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 17 years to life. Briones applied for clemency in the early 90s, and the Board of Prison Terms approved her request in September 2001. A decade and endless court appearances later, Briones is finally a free woman. "We worked so hard to get my aunt out of jail and today she's finally free," said Georgina Herrera. "She's currently in a group home and is looking forward to starting her life again." The road to freedom was not a smooth one. "The waiting process is excruciating," said Andrea Bible, Project Coordinator for Free Battered Women, a statewide coalition of current and former incarcerated survivors of domestic violence working to end what Bible calls the state-sanctioned re-victimization of incarcerated survivors of domestic violence. "You wait for your hearing, then you go, then you find out if you're granted or not. You can't get very excited if you're granted because the board has 120 days to review the panel's decision. Then the Governor gets 30 days to make a decision. Former California Governor Gray Davis reversed the Board's decision to parole Briones in February 2002, as he did for many other survivors of domestic violence to whom the Board granted parole. In March 2004, the Board of Prison Terms granted parole to Briones for the second time, citing positive reports from prison officials on her behavior and mental health. On August 25, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declined to review the Board of Prison Terms' decision to grant Briones parole, which means that the Board's decision to free her stands. Parole Process Can Be Complex Receiving a grant for parole from the Board of Prison Terms is an accomplishment in and of itself, says Bible. Inmates who are serving up to life in prison have the right to request clemency. The Board must then consider evidence of "battered-women's syndrome'' in deciding whether an inmate is suitable for parole. "The Board is supposed to make a decision about whether an inmate is suitable based solely on whether she is a risk to society," Bible said. "In many cases, they have a retrial; they rehash everything that happened. It's a very difficult process to go through and very few people are found suitable." Since Governor Schwarze-negger took office, the mood at Free Battered Women has improved. Bible says Schwarzengger receives about one parole request a day from inmates who are serving time for a variety of reasons, including homicide or theft under California's Three Strikes law. "Schwarzenegger has approved five paroles for survivors of domestic violence and gave early release to one." | ||
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