The Second Appellate District granted a petition for writ of habeas corpus. The court held that the Board of Parole Hearings violated state law in denying an inmate parole based on, among other things, the inmate’s lack of insight, failure to take responsibility, and absence of remorse where the sole evidence in support of such findings was the inmate’s steadfast refusal to admit that he was guilty of the offense for which he was committed.
In 1983, Kevin Jackson was tried for the murder of his former girlfriend. The prosecution alleged that in the early morning hours of July 5, 1981, Jackson fired two shots at Wade while she was sitting in her car, killing her. The evidence against Jackson was primarily circumstantial. The sole witness to the crime was some distance away and could state only that he saw a man with a profile resembling Jackson’s walk up to the victim’s car and fire a gun. He could not positively identify Jackson as the shooter. Jackson consistently denied that he shot and killed the victim. He contended the crime was likely committed by another man with whom the victim was involved with at the time.
