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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Media Not Entitled to|Garrido Parole Records

(CN) - The media is not entitled to prison and parole information on Phillip Garrido, who was arrested for allegedly kidnapping Jaycee Lee Dugard and holding her hostage for 18 years, a California appeals court ruled.

Garrido was on parole for 10 of those years, but the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) did not discover any parole violations, nor did it discover the alleged kidnapping victim and her two children, which Garrido fathered.

Dugard and her children lived in makeshift tents on the property of Garrido and his wife.

Garrido was originally convicted of kidnapping and rape in Nevada in 1977. He only served 11 years of his 50-year sentence before he was paroled.

An investigation by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) showed that the CDCR failed to monitor Garrido's parole adequately.

The Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle and KCRA-TV asked for public records relating to Garrido's parole, but their requests were denied.

The trial court ordered the inspector general and CDCR to disclose the documents or produce them for in-camera review, but Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye overturned the order on appeal, citing the confidential nature of OIG investigative materials.

"We conclude that Penal Code section 6131, rather than requiring disclosure as the superior court found, gives the Inspector General complete discretion whether to disclose investigative materials underlying OIG's report," wrote Cantil-Sakauye, whose bid to serve as the state's chief justice will be decided by voters next week.

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