Crime & Safety
2 Pardons Granted To Offenders Who Committed Crimes In Alameda County
Gov. Gavin Newsom said granting clemency "does not minimize or forgive (their) conduct or the harm it caused."
ALAMEDA COUNTY, CA — Gov. Gavin Newsom's office on Wednesday announced that he has granted pardons to two people who committed their crimes in Alameda County.
The state Constitution allows for the governor to extend executive clemency in the form of a pardon, commutation or reprieve. According to Newsom's office, the governor bases his decisions on the grantee's self-development and accountability after conviction.
Sikwayi Dawson was convicted in 1994 and sentenced to three years' probation and six days in jail for possessing cocaine base, also known as crack cocaine, while being armed.
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Punishment for possession of crack in the 1990s was much more severe than that of powdered cocaine. This was rectified in 2010 through the federal Fair Sentencing Act.
Newsom's office recognized that Dawson received a certificate of rehabilitation out of San Joaquin County and said that was "evidence that she has been living an upright life."
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Gabriel Freeland, who now lives in Arizona, was convicted in Alameda County in 1992 for force or assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to three years' probation and 90 days in jail.
According to Newsom's office, Freeland used a wooden stick during a group fight. In 1996, Freeland was again convicted of a crime, this time robbery, for which he spent a year in jail and three years on probation.
Newsom said that the act of clemency for both Dawson and Freeland "does not minimize or forgive (their) conduct or the harm it caused," but that it does recognize the work they have done since to transform themselves.
A total of 19 people in the state were given clemency recently by the governor after petitioning for it.
Receiving a governor's pardon can restore a person's right to vote or run for office, allows someone to sit on a jury, and it can allow them to have a better shot at getting a professional license from a state board, among other things.
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