Newsom commutes 548 California death sentences, igniting backlash

Notable inmates on the clemency list include notorious killers

Among the inmates whose sentences were commuted are notorious killers Richard Allen Davis and Randy Kraft, both identified by KRON4 as part of the list.

Monterey County cases: victims, crimes and death‑row convictions

The Monterey County list includes the 1989 Pacific Grove murder of neighbor Kim Hickman, whose body was found with multiple stab wounds and a suspenders strangulation after a burglary and robbery. A forensic pathologist later determined Hickman was still alive when the suspenders were applied, meaning the strangulation caused her death. The death sentence in the Hickman case was entered on 2 October 1990 and the California Supreme Court affirmed it on 28 January 2002.

Another case involved the 1998 Salinas murder of 11‑year‑old neighbor Nicole Carnahan, who suffered a slash to the neck that cut her jugular and carotid and a blunt‑force head injury during a burglary and robbery. The judgment of death for Carnahan was entered on 16 August 1999 and the California Supreme Court affirmed it on 31 January 2001.

The list also covers the 1997 murder of prison inmate Leonard Swartz, who died 17 days after Bivert stabbed his neck, damaging his carotid artery. Bivert had previously been convicted in 1988 of three murders in Yolo County and was serving a 52‑year‑to‑life term when he killed Swartz. In 1987, Bivert and accomplices shot a fisherman and later a couple while discussing a bank robbery, dumping the bodies in a slough. The death judgment for the Swartz case was entered on 19 July 2001 and the California Supreme Court affirmed it on 11 July 2011.

The same shooter, Manibusan, killed Frances Olivo on 1 February 1998 in Seaside during a separate drive‑by while she walked on the sidewalk. The death sentences for the Mathews and Olivo cases were entered on 24 January 2001 and the California Supreme Court affirmed them on 2 December 2013.

A further Monterey County death‑row judgment was entered on 14 June 2014. The California Supreme Court completed briefing on that case on 20 October 2026.

District Attorney Pacioni condemns the commutations as political

Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni slammed Governor Newsom’s decision, saying it tells grieving families their loss no longer matters. She called the mass commutation a political act that disregards grieving families and silences victims’ voices. Pacioni added the timing—after elections and before Newsom leaves office—serves the governor’s legacy and future ambitions, not the victims, and she stands with victims and survivors who deserve better.

Legal challenge: Supreme Court review of Monterey County clemency cases

All of those cases, except the Manibusan matter, require that review, raising questions about the governor’s power to commute death sentences.

Historical context: moratorium, inmate transfers and prior clemency actions

In 2025 Bivert attempted to murder a fellow inmate with a homemade weapon, and his prosecution continues in case 26CR003669. The Press Democrat reported Newsom’s mass clemency is the largest executive clemency action in modern U.S. history.

Next steps: pending Supreme Court decisions and ongoing prosecutions

Nissensohn, convicted in 1990 of a stabbing death in Tacoma Wahington and sentenced to twenty‑five years, was nearing release when he faced a trial in El Dorado County, adding another pending prosecution to the post‑clemency landscape.