Alex’s Legacy . . . Liz and Gorby’s Wedding

Alex introduced his friend Liz Hughes to his friend Gorby Boyadzhyan a couple of years ago. This weekend, September 22, they were married.

Liz was like a sister to Alex. He had his own room in her 100-year-old Victorian flat in Santa Barbara. They ate together and, with Gorby and other friends, were a family.

Alex and Liz worked together a Devereaux with autistic 10 year olds. I remember Alex calling me one evening. He was in the van. Liz was driving, and I could hear the commotion of kids in the background.
“Mom! How ya’ doin’!? Yah, Liz and I are taking the kids to Chez Paris!”
“You mean Burger King?”
“How’d you know that’s where we’re going!!?”
“Alex, when you were 10, I would not have taken YOU to Chez Paris. I don’t think you’re going to be taking a passel of 10 year olds there!”
“Mom, I gotta’ go. They’re pulling Liz’s hair, and I think she’s crying!”

It was with Liz that he tested saying out loud that he was in love with Paige. It was Wednesday before Alex was killed. Liz was doing dishes in her large, wooden kitchen. Alex was Swiffering the floor.
“I think I’m in love with Paige,” he confided to Liz.
“You THINK you’re in love with her. I KNOW you’re in love with her.”

Liz and Gorby had their dogs in their wedding. Liz said it was Alex’s idea. He would say, “You two are getting married, and I’M walking the dogs down the aisle.”

So the dogs were in the wedding in honor of Alex. Paige walked them down the aisle.

Congratulations and much love to Liz and Gorby.

Jessica’s Appeal

Okay, so. I am no attorney. I am no judge. But I AM a journalist by training, so I will try to explain this to you the best way I can.

Steve Balash, Jessica’s attorney, is appealing her sentencing to 5 and a half years in prison by Judge Lodge on the grounds that Jessica was sentenced for killing Alex AND for causing him great bodily harm. Ya’ can’t do both.

The great bodily harm charge creates a “special circumstance,” which automatically requires Jessica to serve 85% of her sentence. So, that means she has to serve 56 months of a 66-month sentence — 4.67 years. No parole.

The judge also declared in his sentencing that this case deserved the “lightest” sentence on the manslaughter.

Steve is trying to get the special circumstances dismissed (’cause ya’ can’t do both), and at the resentencing, she would receive the “lightest” sentence for vehicular manslaughter, with no special circumstance. I think Steve said that would only be a couple of years. Jessica has already served almost 8 months.

After rejections from Judge Lodge to review the sentencing, Steve sent his appeal to the California State Court of Appeals. They got back to Steve and said that, if the State Attorney General had no objections and did not request to argue the case in front of them, they would send it back to Judge Lodge for resentencing.

Well, as fate would have it, the Attorney General DID want to have his day in court to argue on behalf of the D.A. in Santa Barbara. So the Appeals Court gave them a court date and said, “But no extensions! You only get this one day.” That day was September 12. I called Steve the next day, and he said the Attorneys General made an argument, and they took a good long time doing so. He said the Appeals Court has 30 days to get their decision to folks.

As of today, Steve still has not heard anything from the Appeals Court.

Update: The Attorney General DID have his day in court, and the argument was denied and referred back to the Santa Barbara Superior Court. THEN the D.A. petitioned the California Supreme Court to hear their argument. That petition was denied about January 16, 2008.

Life in the Women’s Facility

I had posted a note from Jessica’s mom on her life in prison, but then removed it whilst I get feedback from a couple of people as to whether or not the posting could possibly endanger Jessica.Susan