Inmate granted parole after long battle with state authorities

SACRAMENTO - A convicted kidnapper whose release was opposed by Gov. Gray Davis has walked out of San Quentin Prison on parole after winning his long-running battle with state authorities.

Tommy Davis, 34, had spent nearly 13 years in prison for a violent kidnapping. His release Monday came almost two months before his scheduled Dec. 23 parole date.

His lawyer, Keith Wattley, said that Davis spent seven months longer in San Quentin than he should have because the state Board of Prison Terms blocked his earlier release.

Some parole reformers claim the board deals unfairly with life-term convicts who perform well in prison. Critics claim Gov. Davis and hard-line appointees manipulate the parole process to deny due process to deserving applicants.

Davis, a former standout football player at Southern Oregon College, was convicted of kidnapping for joining three others in the 1987 armed robbery, rape and abduction of a 19-year-old woman in Sacramento.

According to court testimony, the robbery and assault on the victim - allegedly the wife of a drug dealer - was part of a plot to rob the dealer.

Davis had no previous criminal history and compiled a virtually spotless record in prison.

After two unsuccessful attempts, Davis in 1998 was granted the Dec. 23 parole date.

Davis' battle with state authorities heated up in March when a parole board commissioner abruptly sent his case to the full parole board for examination.

The board referred the matter to a three-member panel, which upheld Davis' suitability for parole.

Gov. Davis, however, refused to go along and urged the full board to reconsider the parole.

The board last month reaffirmed the Dec. 23 release over the governor's objections.

The board, however, refused to credit the inmate with nine months of early release credits.

Wattley sued the board in Superior Court to grant the early release for Davis and a hearing was set for Nov. 17.

Wattley said Monday that the board met privately Friday for a review on Davis' case and reversed itself, granting him the early release credits immediately.

Upon his release, Davis went to his father's home in Vallejo across San Francisco Bay from San Quentin, Wattley said.