In these 93-page findings and recommendations, U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Seng recommends to the district court that George Souliotes's habeas petition be granted and that he be released unless California states its intent to retry him within 30 days. Regular readers may remember this case from my prior posts and Op-Ed piece in the Modesto Bee. It's the one where the Attorney General concedes that the scientific evidence the prosecution relied on to convict Souliotes of arson-murder is flawed, but nonetheless argues that his petition should be dismissed as untimely because it was filed five days late and should otherwise be denied.
The day after the magistrate judge's F&Rs, attorneys for Souliotes moved for his immediate release pending further proceedings. Once again, California opposed release. Judge Seng construed the motion for immediate release as an objection to his "conditional" release recommendation and referred the matter to the district court.
C'mon Kamala Harris, doesn't innocence count for anything anymore? Where the State agrees that the evidence used to convict Souliotes was flawed, why oppose 71-year old Souliotes's release pending further proceedings?