Paradis’ Unusual Commutation Case Could Set Precedent Claim Of Innocence Could Lead To Similar Death Row Appeals

It’s rare that Idaho’s Commission of Pardons and Parole commutes a sentence.

Of 160 inmates trying for commutations in 1995, the five-member panel agreed to hear only 11, and granted just two.

But this week’s hearing on convicted murderer Don Paradis’ bid for commutation isn’t the usual case. It’s the first death penalty case to come before the panel in two decades. It rests not on claims of good prison behavior or an inappropriate sentence, but on claims of innocence. And it could set precedent for eight other Death Row inmates who are expected to exhaust their appeals in the next few years.

“We don’t take this lightly,” said Del Ray Holm, who has served on the commission since 1982. “I don’t think there’s any of the commissioners that have made up their mind.”

If the commission supports commutation, the final say would be up to Gov. Phil Batt. Batt is monitoring the case closely, but won’t comment, saying he doesn’t want to prejudge it.

The spotlight will be on the commission this Wednesday and Thursday, when it meets at the state prison to hear from both sides in the Paradis case and decide whether to head off Idaho’s first involuntary execution since 1957.

The Commission of Pardons and Parole meets for a week to 10 days every month. It hears hundreds of pleas from inmates who want to be let out on parole; from others who have violated conditions of their parole; and from those seeking commutation or pardons.

Often, the commission meets from early morning long into the night, with only a brief meal break. Last year, it held 1,194 hearings.

“We see 22 to 25 people a day,” said board member Russell Newcomb. The group functions somewhat like a jury, with members arguing while they deliberate. The board doesn’t need to reach consensus - a majority vote will do.

“The decision is not ever made lightly,” said Camille Tillinghast.

Differences among the commissioners help the group reach a fair decision, several said.

“It’d be bad if they was all like me,” said Holm, who said he probably favors parole more often than others.

Tillinghast said her goal on the commission is to “first and foremost … consider the victims, their families, and the other law-abiding citizens of our community, and work hard to keep them from further victimization.”

That’s part of what prompted her to serve on the board. “I was born and raised here, and I wanted to play a role in making the community a safer place.”

Solicitor General Lynn Thomas, who will present the state’s case, worries about the precedent a commutation would set. All eight Death Row inmates whose appeals are running out likely will try for commutations too, he said.

“And I’m sure that we’ll see more innocence claims. We’re getting letters from Italy, France, Germany, Spain in the Mark Lankford case, all of them claiming that he’s innocent. There are letters from people who don’t know a thing about the case or the American legal system.”

Lankford, 40, was convicted of a double-murder and sentenced to death in 1984.

“It’s the same kind of thing going on in this case, an attempt to create an impression publicly that the defendant is innocent and has been deprived of an opportunity to prove it,” Thomas said.

“The idea is if you can create that kind of public impression, then maybe there will be public pressure on the governor and the commissioners to grant a commutation. If you’re successful in that, you don’t have to worry about the courts, you don’t have to worry about the law, you get off even though you have lost every legal battle in the courtroom.”

Paradis has been the subject of media coverage nationwide for his claims of innocence, and has prominent supporters who believe his original trial was flawed.

Paradis and biker Thomas Gibson were convicted of killing Kimberly Ann Palmer in Idaho. Her body was found near Post Falls in 1980.

Paradis maintains he had no part in the murder, and only helped dispose of Palmer’s body after others killed her at his rented home in Spokane. His lawyers say technicalities of Idaho law have prevented the courts from considering Paradis’ claims.

The lawyers declined to be interviewed for this article.

If Paradis’ sentence were commuted to an indeterminate life term, as he has requested, he would be eligible for parole immediately.

In his petition, Paradis asked for either a conditional pardon and new trial, or commutation of his sentence.

“We’re just going to consider the commutation,” Holm said, adding that he didn’t think a conditional pardon was an option.

Pardons usually are granted to offenders who have served their time and become productive members of society.

Last year, the commission granted four pardons of the 10 it considered. The charges ranged from bad checks to grand theft.

Commutation requests are more common, but commissioners agreed they rarely grant them.

“Usually they put up such trivial reasons for it,” said Holm. “They get into the law library and they do all this stuff, and it just clogs up our system.”

The two commutations granted last year both involved inmates who committed crimes while in prison. Both sought, years later, to have those additional sentences made concurrent, rather than consecutive, to their original sentences.

Sean Matthews, a murderer, was convicted of assaulting a guard his first year in prison in 1983. But his record had been spotless ever since. “He had shown exceptional progress,” said Jan Harris, a parole hearing officer for the commission.

His commutation came with a condition: Keep a clean disciplinary record in prison, or lose the chance at parole.

Jerry Mills was sentenced for escape in 1988. But even with the commutation, his original sentence for robbery doesn’t let him come up for parole until 1999. Without the commutation, parole would be an extra two to five years away.

“He had shown some improvement in his character and desire to improve himself,” Harris said.

In 1994, the commission received 134 requests for commutations, and granted two. In 1993, it got 182 requests and granted eight. The year before that, 179 inmates requested commutations. None was granted.

“We respect the judges and their hard work, and therefore it’s rare, and I think it should be rare, when we consider modifying any sentence,” Tillinghast said.

Holm said the commissioners deliberated for five hours before deciding to hear Paradis’ case.

Said board member Jay Nielsen, “We’re citizens who are just trying to do our job, and it’s not an easy job.”

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