Early this week, San Joaquin County Sheriff Steve Moore was informed that Loren Herzog — who was sentenced by a jury in 2001 for the murder of three people but who ended up serving a term for manslaughter after an appellate court overturned the murder convictions — would be paroled by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to San Joaquin County.
Capt. John Espinoza confirmed at a Thursday media conference that Herzog would be released into Tracy specifically. He said that the city has suffered enough high-profile crimes in the past 1½ years, and that paroling Herzog in Tracy would be an injustice.
“We have already endured enough,” he said. “…The city of Tracy would like to move on and heal.”
The plan also doesn’t sit well with Stockton and county law enforcement officials, who said they’ve received a deluge of calls from county residents opposing Herzog’s release.
Herzog was originally supposed to be paroled in Modoc and then Tehama counties, but protests from sheriffs there led the corrections department to come up with a third option — San Joaquin County.
But according to Moore, those counties had more than a month to organize a response to the CDCR’s parole plan for Herzog. San Joaquin County, he said, only got seven days. That prompted Moore, the Stockton and Tracy police departments, as well as Assemblymembers Cathleen Galgiani and Bill Berryhill to try and convince the CDCR to delay Herzog’s parole — and to release him elsewhere when it does.
“We are all taking whatever actions we can to delay the release,” Moore said, who added that the CDCR didn’t adequately analyze the ramifications of having Herzog live in San Joaquin County.
Typically, prisoners are released to the county where they most recently lived once they have served their time. San Joaquin is Herzog’s most recent residence, but it’s also home to relatives of Cyndi Vanderheiden, one of the three people Herzog had originally been convicted of killing.
Moore said that makes the county an “inappropriate” place for Herzog to live.
“For the victims, there has been no closure,” he said. “Our community has not been able to heal.”
“This is an injustice to San Joaquin County. It is an injustice to the state of California,” added Galgiani, who said she’s pressuring the CDCR to see if Herzog’s parole meets all legal requirements.
Herzog was originally supposed to serve 78 years in prison, but a court overturned those convictions in 2004, saying Herzog’s confessions to the crimes had been coerced.
He pleaded guilty instead to a 14-year manslaughter count for his role in Vanderheiden’s killing, and he is out early for good behavior and time previously served.
Thank you all again so much.
~Holly Kristine Cavanaugh, Middlefield, Ohio
I don't understand how he could only get 14 years for manslaughter to begin with. There is a creep in san quentin serving 44 years for raping his step daughter. Certainly Herzog deserves at least 50 years for taking a life.
Got nothing to do with anything anyone said or did.
Herzog won't be released anywhere, including Tracy.
The CDC just houses criminals, they have no say in the matter.
Call whomever you want. No fight was won. Everyone is taking credit.
He has 5 months left on his sentence. The mistake was made in the court system.
http://www.ci.tracy.ca.us/modules/news/article.php?storyid=490
on July 23, 2010
(Tracy, CA) – The Tracy Police Department and San Joaquin County law enforcement officials successfully worked through every legal channel to stop the release of convicted felon Loren Herzog into the City of Tracy. Responding to recent developments announcing the postponement of Mr. Herzog’s release originally scheduled for early next week into Tracy, Mayor Brent Ives said,
“We are pleased to learn this afternoon that Mr. Herzog will not be placed in the City of Tracy. I am proud of the way our community members joined in a titanic effort to oppose the planned placement of Mr. Herzog in our town. Together, we have successfully prevented Mr. Herzog from being placed among us.”
Herzog was sentenced by a 2001 jury for the murder of three people, one of whom has relatives living in San Joaquin County. Later, an appellate court overturned the murder convictions and reduced the charges to manslaughter. Herzog was serving the terms for manslaughter and had been scheduled for release on parole this Sunday, July 24 until today’s developments postponed the release.
When asked to comment further, Mayor Ives stated,
“I am extremely pleased with this decision. We were adamantly opposed to having Herzog released into our community. We supported the Tracy Police Department’s legal efforts to stop his placement in Tracy, and we pursued every remedy available to us.”
At approximately 4:00 pm today, the Tracy Police Department was notified that Mr. Herzog’s release will be delayed until some yet to be determined date. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has confirmed that Loren Herzog will not be released this weekend as previously scheduled nor will he be released into the City of Tracy. The petition filed by witnesses in the Herzog trial to seek the protective order of 35 miles exclusion zone has been accepted, and this action renders Mr. Herzog ineligible for placement in the City of Tracy.
Earlier this week, when it was announced that Herzog was scheduled to be released to the Tracy jurisdiction, law enforcement and other city staff worked tirelessly with many local and state partners to stop it from happening. San Joaquin County and Tracy residents acted quickly to let their voices be heard loudly and clearly by municipal, county and state officials. Tracy Police Captain John Espinoza applauded the community’s actions stating,
“Today’s results show that our collective commitment to safety and willingness to act can make a difference in the well being of our community. As we did in the Sandra Cantu case and the Kyle R. case, our community showed strength and resolve to band together during a time of crisis. We proved our effectiveness in working together toward public safety.”
Espinoza continued by citing today’s successful resolution as another fine example of city leadership and community members working collaboratively toward a common mission and succeeding.
let's keep this puke where he is...since we can't put him where he belongs.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Matthew Cate
1515 S St. Room 502 S
Sacramento, CA 95811
916-445-4950
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
California State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95812
916-445-2841
— Source: San Joaquin County Sheriff Steve Moore.
Even though the law protects everyone, even Herzog, he confessed to killing 3 people but had his conviction lessened to manslaughter because he was coerced into confession. BS! This guy doesn't deserve to be released!
You can call CDCR and protest (I did and they actually answered)
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Matthew Cate
1515 S St. Room 502 S
Sacramento, CA 95811
916-445-4950
Link to the petition:
Link:http://www.lodinews.com/news/article_4a703212-9602-11df-aec4-001cc4c03286.html
Is there any way the public could join the voice of protest or take action to make protest known?
McNerney, think he can help with this???? No?
CN
Is there anything as a community that can be done?