In re Hguyen

Opinion

MOORE, J.

In 1990, petitioner in the underlying matter, Hank Nguyen, murdered his former girlfriend, Tina Tham, who had broken off their relationship eight months earlier. On June 28, 1991, after the jury convicted Nguyen of murder, the court sentenced him to 15 years to life in state prison.

The Board of Parole Hearings (the Board) found Nguyen suitable for parole in June 2009. The Governor reversed the Board’s decision, finding the crime “extraordinarily] callous, heinous and atrocious,” that Nguyen had not fully accepted responsibility for the murder or developed a sense of genuine…