A former Albany man who has spent more than 20 years in prison for killing his ex-girlfriend with a hammer has been granted parole, despite repeated denials by the powerful Bureau of Parole Hearings over the past six years.
Andrew Young, now 53, was convicted in 1993 of second degree murder for bludgeoning Dollie Harvey with a hammer at the couple’s Albany home following an argument in August 1991. Harvey sustained 67 lacerations to her body, including her head and neck, and showed signs of strangulation.
Young, a former Marine, was denied parole in 2009 and 2012, but filed an appeal against the Bureau of Parole Hearings, arguing that it had violated his right to due process. He argued that the board had failed to consider the many rehabilitation programs he had participated in while in prison and the stressful circumstances that led him to kill Harvey.
At the time of the murder, Young was fighting an expensive custody battle with the mother of his young son, whom she had taken to New York, and was also worried about finances.
On Tuesday, the California State Court of Appeals agreed that critical factors had been overlooked in the case and granted Young parole.
The court agreed that Young was a domestic abuser who had “relational dynamics” problems with intimate partners in general but said there was no evidence that Young was a serial domestic abuser who would commit a similar crime if released.
“We can only conclude that the Board’s vision was entirely obscured by the heinous nature of the crime itself,” the court wrote in its decision. “However, our Supreme Court has made it clear that in such circumstance, the heinous nature of the crime by itself is not sufficient to deny parole.”
The parole board has previously denied Young’s requests, arguing that while he had made significant inroads into recovery, he still failed to fully grasp why he committed the crime.
Bureau of Prison Terms Deputy Commissioner Edward Alvord said that while Young had “made significant strides,” there was still a “monster inside the petitioner that was very dangerous.”
Gov. Jerry Brown can still veto the appeals court’s decision.
Young plans to live in transitional housing in the Sacramento area and later with his brother.
Contact Karina Ioffee at kioffee@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow her at Twitter.com/kioffee.
