In Re Hamm

123 P.3d 652 (2005)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

In September 1974, d was twenty-six years old and living on the streets of Tucson. In 1973, he had separated from his wife, with whom he had a son. D supported himself by selling small quantities of marijuana. D used marijuana and other drugs and abused alcohol. On September 6, 1974, Willard Morley and Zane Staples, came to Tucson to buy twenty pounds of marijuana. D agreed to sell it to them, but could not supply that quantity of marijuana. D and two accomplices, Garland Wells, and Bill Reeser, agreed to rob Staples and Morley of the money intended for the purchase. Wells gave D a gun to use during the robbery. Wells and D directed Morley and Staples to drive to the outskirts of Tucson. Reeser followed in another vehicle. Both Wells and D carried guns; Morley and Staples were unarmed. At some point, D realized that Staples was becoming suspicious. As Morley stopped the car, and without making any demand on the victims for money, D shot Morley in the back of the head, killing him. Wells shot Staples. D then shot Staples in the back as he tried to escape and shot Morley once again. Wells also shot Morley, then pursued Staples, whom he ultimately killed outside of the car. D and Wells took $1400.00 from the glove compartment, fled the scene in the van driven by Reeser, and left the bodies of Morley and Staples lying in the desert. While in custody, he told the police that Morley and Staples were killed in a gun battle during the drug deal. D pled guilty to one count of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison, with no possibility of parole for twenty-five years. D became a model prisoner. D took advantage of any and every educational opportunity the prison system had to offer. D helped fellow inmates learn to read and write and to take responsibility for their actions. D obtained a bachelor's degree in applied sociology. D lived in a dormitory and occasionally drove unaccompanied to nearby towns. D wrote grant proposals for libraries, for handicapped prisoners, and for obtaining greater legal assistance for prisoners. D met and married Donna Leone and with her founded Middle Ground Prison Reform (Middle Ground), a prisoner and prisoner family advocacy organization involved in lobbying for laws related to the criminal justice system and prisons. Middle Ground also provides public education about those topics. In 1989, the Governor commuted D's sentence and D was released on parole, conditioned upon no use of alcohol or drugs, drug, and alcohol testing, and fifteen hours of community service each month. D was eventually granted absolute discharge. D performed thousands of hours of community service and advocated for prisoners' rights. D graduated from the Arizona State University College of Law. D passed the Arizona bar examination and, in 2004, filed his Character and Fitness Report with the Committee.