Free Child Sex Trafficking Victim Sara Kruzan

Commutation

SARA JESSIMY KRUZAN, W-59700

“If at the end of court procedures there is claimed to persist a miscarriage of justice, despite all

the precautions of the law to the contrary, the ultimate remedy rests in an appeal to the

Governor . . . .” (In re Horowitz (1949) 33 Cal.2d 534, 546.)

On March 10, 1994, 16-year-old Sara Kruzan shot and killed her former pimp, 37-year-old

George Howard. In response to threats by James Earl Hampton, Ms. Kruzan went to a movie

with Mr. Howard. After the movie, the pair went to a hotel. As they prepared to have sexual

intercourse, she shot Mr. Howard to death. Ms. Kruzan was convicted of special circumstances

first-degree murder (while lying in wait and during a robbery) with a firearm. She was sentenced

to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus four consecutive years for the use of a

firearm. Ms. Kruzan appealed her conviction, but her sentence was upheld. Mr. Howard’s

death is tragic, and I do not discount the gravity of the offense. But given Ms. Kruzan’s age at

the time of the murder, and considering the significant abuse she suffered at his hands, I believe

Ms. Kruzan’s sentence is excessive. Accordingly, I commute Ms. Kruzan’s murder sentence to

25 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole.1

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State of California, in

accordance with the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the State of

California, hereby commute Sara Kruzan’s murder sentence to 25 years to life in prison with the

possibility of parole.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my

hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of

California to be affixed this 31st Day of

December, 2010.

__________________________________

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

Governor of California

ATTEST:

___________________________________

DEBRA BOWEN

Secretary of State

WHILE WE ALL HOPED AND PRAYED THAT SARA'S SENTENCE WOULD BE COMPLETELY VACATED THE COMMUTE IS A HUGE STEP.  WE CAN NOW MOVE FORWARD WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT SARA WILL BE FREE.

THIS COMMUTE DOES NOT MEAN THAT SARA CANNOT GO BACK TO COURT SEEKING OTHER REMEDIES TO HER SENTENCE.  I WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP EVERYONE UPDATED!!

WE THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!

TOGETHER WE STAND TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!

KIM DEANNE

DEAR SUPPORTERS:

PLEASE COPY AND PASTE THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE THROUGHOUT THE INTERNET.

THURS, DEC. 16TH - NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY: FREE SARA KRUZAN

Please join thousands (wait..did I say thousands? I meant TENS OF THOUSANDS) of people who support the plea of clemency for Sara Kruzan. This is a simple act targeting Governor Schwarzenegger to support the granting of clemency for Sara Kruzan who was sentenced to prison for life without the possiblity of parole 16 years ago for shooting the man who had pimped and molested her since she was 13 years old. You can read more about... her story and why we are fighting for her release with time served in the links below. You will also find below a sample script for use in your communications and the contact information for Governor Schwarzenegger. Please stand up for justice and make your voice heard!

Script for phone, fax or email:

Governor Schwarzennegger my name is and I would like to urge you to publicly support clemency for Sara Kruzan. She was imprisoned without the possibility of parole at the age of 16 after killing the man who had sexually abused her since she was 11 years old and prostituted her since she was 13 years old. She has spent the last 15 years of her life in prison and during that time she has earned a college degree and earned the recognition of the corrections officers. Despite having no expectation of leaving our prison system, she has worked to better herself and overcome the effects of her youth. The Supreme Court has recognized and restated that youth are different from adults and that life without parole is an especially harsh sentence for youths. Sara Kruzan deserved this consideration 15 years ago and she certainly deserves it now.

As we become better informed about the impacts of sex trafficking in our society and recognize that youths are frequently the victims in those cases, we need to take into account the special circumstances of these victims. Sara Kruzan was such a victim, she has paid her debt to society and we need to recognize that. Please issue a statement supporting the release of Sara Kruzan.

Thank you for your time.

Script for Tweets:

@Schwarzenegger Please decriminalize the victims of #HumanTrafficking ~Release Sara Kruzan from the darkness of prison! http://tinyurl.com/2662tgk

Governor contact info:

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

State Capitol

1st Fl.

Sacramento, CA 95814

Fax:(916)445-4633

Tel:(916)445-2841

email: governor@governor.ca.gov

Web page:http://www.ca.gov/s/governor/mail.html

I AM SOOO SOOO HAPPY ABOUT THE ARTICLE THAT WAS PUBLISHED TODAY IN THE LA TIMES.... CHECK IT OUT HERE:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-1208-sara-20101208,0,2931752.story

TOGETHER WE STAND TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!

DON'T FORGET TO PURCHASE YOUR "FREE SARA KRUZAN" T-SHIRT TODAY!!

THANK YOU!!!

Many of you have expressed an interest in organizing Lobby Day's, Rally's and Sit-In's... It is in Sara's best interest for us to not organize any such event(s) at this time.

I truly understand everyone is anxious, but believe me when I tell you, "we are making great progress". We strongly feel that your letters to the Governor, spreading the word, media support, blogs, etc.. is a huge step in supporting the freedom of Sara. Your voices are being heard not just in California, but across the nation. That is huge and we humbly Thank You so much!!

Just a reminder to continue to write your letters (and encourage others such as your friends, organizations, churches, family members, etc.) to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in support of Sara's clemency.

Governor's Office:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

State Capitol Building

Sacramento, CA 95814

Phone: 916-445-2841 

Fax: 916-558-3160

Let's speak & pray Sara's freedom into existence. Sara will be free 2010/2011.

Let the WORLD continue to hear our voices. Write letters of support to government officials. Sign petitions. Free Sara Kruzan - NOW!!!"

TOGETHER WE STAND TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!

Sincerely,

Kim Deanne

email: kimdeanne@freesarakruzan.org

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THIS GREAT ARTICLE IN THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/07/EDCL1F4RF5.DTL

TOGETHER WE STAND TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!

FREE SARA KRUZAN!!!!

Check out the article far below.

I would also like to send a special thank you to Amanda Kloer for mentioning Sara in the article. 

Don't forget to follow Sara on twitter

http://www.twitter.com/freesarakruzan

http://humantrafficking.change.org/blog/view/victory_schwarzenegger_signs_bill_to_end_supply_chain_slavery?me=nl

TOGETHER WE STAND TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

FREE SARA KRUZAN

Sara's petition for clemency has been officially filed.  Check out this article: 

http://www.jlwop.com/blog/statement-on-sara-kruzans-clemency-petition.html

Please send your letters to support Sara's clemency asap to:

Governor's Office:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

State Capitol Building

Sacramento, CA 95814

Phone: 916-445-2841 

Fax: 916-558-3160

Please be sure to follow Sara on Twitter @FreeSaraKruzan

Who would like to volunteer to help manage & post tweets to Sara's twitter page?  Email:  kimdeanne@freesarakruzan.org

Thank you..........

TOGETHER WE STAND TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

Hello my dear Sara Kruzan supporters.....

PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR MY DELAY IN KEEPING YOU INFORMED.... Sara is great and in great spirits.  Sara's attorneys attended the latest hearing on Sara's behalf, however, the hearing that we are all axiously awaiting has been pushed back to February 14.

I have received a few hundred letters over the past few weeks since posting Court related news... and I know that this seems unfair and unjust that Sara has to continue the agony of waiting, hoping, fighting and allllll the internal & external feelings that come along with being anxious for Sara's release... however, I have to openly and honestly say that Sara is OK with everything that is taking place.  It's not easy, but faith, hope & patience is something that she has learned to have without a shadow of doubt. 

Sara's attorneys are working from several angle's in pursuing Sara's freedom... as you can imagine, this is by no means an easy task.  Although we the people, supporters, family members, friends, etc... see Sara's incarceration as an injustice, we still must continue to fight for her cause.

I would highly and strongly recommend, that if you already have not done so, please write letters to the Governor of California.  PLEASE HEAR ME WHEN I SAY ......."NOW IS THE TIME!!!!"

Governor's Office:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

State Capitol Building

Sacramento, CA 95814

Phone: 916-445-2841

Fax: 916-558-3160

IF YOU CHOSE TO WRITE THE GOVERNOR, please do so respectfully.  We want our voices to be heard.   We want the Governor to know Sara's story, her plight.  We want the Governor to know that Sara should be granted clemency, freedom! We want our Sara home!!!!!

TOGETHER WE STAND TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!!  

Hello everyone,

I am extremely happy to announce Sara's rescheduled court date. 

By the way, I by no means meant to alarm everyone when I sent out the email stating that the old date had to be rescheduled.  I should have been much more specific by saying that Sara's attorney's needed some time to prepare for the hearing.  We are remaining 'patient' as CRAZY and as HARD as that may sound, especially after all of these years...

After all, we are all so ready for our dear Sara to come home, right?  Ok, so the new date is:

Tuesday, September 14 at 1:30pm

PLEASE DO NOT SEND ANY LETTERS OF SUPPORT OR LETTER'S OF ANY KIND TO SARA'S JUDGE OR TO SARA'S ATTORNEY'S. 

PLEASE SEND ALL LETTERS DIRECTLY TO ME IN THE BODY OF YOUR EMAIL TO:  KIMDEANNE@FREESARAKRUZAN.ORG

TOGETHER WE STAND TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

T-SHIRTS COMING SOON!!