What Happens When A Violent Offender Is Re-Sentenced
What Happens When A Violent Offender Is Re-Sentenced
Freddie Lee Taylor was freed from Death Row in 2019 and has been anything but a model citizen since.
With everyone talking about the Menendez Brothers being re-sentenced, it’s worth revisiting the case of Freddie Lee Taylor, a onetime condemned inmate turned free man. It perhaps offers a cautionary tale about the dangers of freeing violent offenders.
Originally from Oklahoma, Taylor was convicted in Contra Costa County Superior Court of the rape and murder of 84-year-old Carmen Vasquez in Richmond in 1985. He was sentenced to death and was sent to San Quentin’s Death Row in 1986.
Taylor had been released from Old Folsom in late 1984 for a violent robbery of a 71-year-old woman. He returned to Richmond and went on a sick one in early 1985. It culminated in the brutal rape and murder of Vasquez on January 22, 1985. The octogenarian was beaten to death, having sustained serious injuries to her head and neck. Vasquez had been extensively sexually assaulted, although years later DNA testing of the rape kit was inconclusive at identifying her attacker.
The case against Taylor was strong. The 25-year-old’s fingerprints were found inside Vasquez’s home. Taylor admitted to being inside Vasquez’s house at the time of the murder, but claimed someone else was the actual killer. (Side Note: Even if that was true, that doesn’t relieve him of criminal culpability)
Taylor had previously burglarized Vasquez’s residence. Oklahoma Department of Corrections records indicate Taylor had a four-year prison commitment for two burglary convictions that occurred in 1978. Freddie Lee Taylor was a burglar before he was a murderer.
The Long Road To Freedom
Freddie Lee Taylor’s automatic appeal to the California Supreme Court was heard in 1990. The Supreme Court turned him down on December 31, 1990. Taylor filed the first of his (at least) three Habeas Corpus appeals in 1989.
At some point in the 1990s, Taylor linked up with San Francisco appellate lawyer Nanci Clarence. She filed his next two H.C. appeals, the first in 1997 and the second in 2005. In September 2016, a Federal Judge ruled Taylor was not competent to stand trial and received ineffective assistance of counsel. The Ninth Circuit upheld the judge’s decision in December 2016.
At this point, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office had two options: Re-try Taylor or offer him a deal for a lesser charge. It just so happened a scandal inside the DA’s Office worked in Taylor’s favor.
District Attorney Mark Peterson was being investigated for using campaign funds for improper personal expenditures. He pleaded guilty in June 2017 and resigned. In September 2017, Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Diana Becton was appointed District Attorney. Whereas Peterson was a traditional tough-on-crime DA and supported capital punishment, Becton is a progressive, hard-left, activist DA opposed to the Death Penalty.
Taylor’s case was assigned to prosecutor Jason Peck. To give you an idea about who Peck is, as head of the Community Violence Reduction Unit, he assigned his subordinates required reading consisting of a screed written by basketball dribbler Kyle Korver. The April 2019 article, titled Privileged, was the predictable tripe one would expect from a self-hating White liberal trying to appease the loudmouth activist crowd. Among other things, Korver endorsed affirmative action and reparations as solutions for ‘systemic racism.’ In a nausea inducing finale, Korver concluded with the sentence, “It’s time for me to shut up and listen.” (Korver is believed to have written the article while taking a knee in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick).
Peck was quoted by the Bay Area News Group as saying, “It was a pretty weak case.”
What? Fingerprints and a self-admission from Taylor about being at the scene of the crime when the rape and murder happened seems pretty strong to me. Moreover, this was a classic felony murder case. Taylor committed two predicate offenses—burglary and rape—which made it an open-and-shut case for a felony murder conviction.
But naturally, Peck assumed his feckless default posture and gave Taylor a deal: Plead guilty to manslaughter in exchange for time served. Taylor took the deal and was freed in February 2019. Soon thereafter, Taylor returned to the Sooner State. (More on that later).
“Hypertechnical” Marsy’s Law Violations
Marsy’s Law, also known as the Crime Victims Bill of Rights, affords victim’s families various rights including the right to be notified about a defendant’s court proceedings. Because Freddie Lee Taylor was to be re-sentenced, Carmen Vasquez’s surviving relatives were legally required to be notified and afforded the opportunity to offer their input.
Jason Peck notified Carmen Vasquez’s son, Eddie Vasquez, who was 86 years old and afflicted with early onset dementia in February 2019. Family members later told the Bay Area News Group that Uncle Eddie (as he is known) had no idea who he was talking to and was confused. Hence, the Vasquez Family never got the opportunity to offer their input into Taylor’s re-sentencing.
The Bay Area News Group quoted former Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Dan O’Malley characterizing this dropping of the ball as a “hypertechnical” Marsy’s Law violation. However, there are no remedies in Marsy’s Law for crime victims when its provisions are not followed by DA’s Offices.
The Vasquez’s Family ordeal prompted veteran Contra Costa County prosecutor Mary Knox to form the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization getVOCAL for Victims in 2020. The organization connects victim’s families with private practice attorneys who can assist them with navigating the court process and ensure that the Marsy’s Law requirements are followed.
(Allegedly) Unlawful Acts In Lawton
Upon his return to his native Oklahoma in 2019, Freddie Lee Taylor, 64, settled in Lawton in Comanche County in the southwestern portion of the Sooner State. Lawton, population 91,000, is the County Seat and the home of Fort Sill.
In October 2021, Taylor was arrested and charged with a felony count of assault and battery with a deadly weapon and a misdemeanor count of resisting an executive officer. Comanche County Detention Center records show he was sentenced on both charges.
Taylor was out of custody by October 2022 and working as a maintenance man at a Lawton apartment complex. On October 8, 2022, Taylor was alleged to have forced his way into a male tenant’s apartment, pulled a shank, and sliced the victim. Taylor then allegedly demanded oral sex from the victim and attempted to sodomize him, albeit unsuccessfully. The victim did not report the incident.
A week later, Taylor allegedly returned to the same apartment unit, broke a window, and attempted to enter. The victim called 9-1-1. Police arrived on-scene and this time the victim reported the rape attempt. Taylor was arrested after being Tasered. He was found to have a razor blade, folding knife, and condom in his possession.
Taylor was charged with felony counts of rape, forcible sodomy, assault and battery with a deadly weapon, and burglary, and a misdemeanor count of resisting an executive officer. However, Comanche County Detention Center records indicate all counts were later dismissed.
In April 2024, Taylor was arrested with misdemeanor counts of assault and battery. Comanche County Detention Center records indicate he was sentenced to jail time and is currently out of custody.
Freddie Lee Taylor is a very dangerous individual with a track record of assault and battery, burglary, sexual assault, and murder. The citizens of Lawton, Oklahoma, can thank Diana Becton and Jason Peck for unleashing him on their community.