This last week the California Supreme Court refused the Santa Barbara D.A.’s request to hear their argument as to why the 5 and a half-year sentence imposed on Jessica by Santa Barbara should stay in the face of filing errors made by the D.A. and discovered by Jessica’s attorney, Steve Balash.
The Supreme Court now sends the matter back to the California Court of Appeals, which has already twice ruled that Santa Barbara needs to re-sentence Jessica in accordance with the charges as they were filed. This will eliminate the “Great Bodily Harm” charge. This was the charge that added an extra 2 years to the sentence and mandated that Jessica had to serve a full 85% of her sentence before being eligible for parole, instead of the usual 50%.
If the judge follows the statements he made in court — specifically, that Jessica warranted the lightest sentencing on the manslaughter charge — and the GBH charge is dropped, Jessica’s sentence should be reduced to approximately 3 years. Fifty percent of that is a year and a half, and she has already served nearly a year of that.
It is our hope that the court will respect the fact that Jessica has already spent hard time in a hard place, and that she will be able to remain in Santa Barbara for the rest of her sentence, so she can be visited by her friends.
Our special thanks go out to Steve Balash, who has worked passionately on Jessica’s behalf.
Please spread the good news!
Love to all,
Susan & Alan Barich
