WOODLAND — A reportedly terminally ill Woodland man serving prison time for a fatal barroom stabbing may gain his freedom several years early if a Yolo Superior Court judge grants a petition for his compassionate release.
Jeffrey Lemus, who is about a year into his seven-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter, has fewer than six months to live after being diagnosed with liver cancer and advanced cirrhosis, according to a compassionate release report prepared by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Although Lemus remains ambulatory and independent in his daily activities, “the progression of the disease is rapid with extreme unlikelihood of improvement,” CDCR Secretary Scott Kernan wrote in a Sept. 21 letter to Judge David Reed, who is due to decide Nov. 6 whether Lemus’ sentence and prison commitment should be recalled.
In order for inmates to be recommended for compassionate release, prison officials must demonstrate that they are either terminally ill or permanently medically incapacitated, and that they pose no threat to public safety. The CDCR report deems Lemus a low risk, given his minimal criminal history prior to the manslaughter conviction, as well as his good behavior while in prison.
Lemus, 57, is being housed at a prison medical facility with an earliest possible parole date of Aug. 18, 2021.
His release is being opposed by the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office and the family of his victim, Kelly Mason Choate, 53, who suffered a fatal stab wound to his heart during a Dec. 5, 2015, altercation with Lemus inside Kenny’s Bar on East Street.
Tried for murder, Lemus claimed self-defense, saying Choate was known to carry a knife and had threatened him in the past. The two men had a long-standing feud that came to a head that night.
A jury found Lemus guilty of voluntary manslaughter and use of a deadly weapon after acquitting him of both first- and second-degree murder.
About a half-dozen of Choate’s relatives attended a brief hearing on the matter Monday at the Yolo County Courthouse, where an emotional Kasie Choate, the victim’s daughter, urged Reed to reject the CDCR petition and keep Lemus behind bars.
“I was disappointed the last time in the sentence of seven years, and I’m prepared to be disappointed again this time, but not without voicing my opinion,” Choate said.
“Whether he be healthy or fatally ill does not change the fact that he killed a person,” she added, noting that Lemus is still able to visit with his loved ones in prison. “What about my dad? He didn’t get that. He didn’t get a warning, a diagnosis of his last days. He didn’t get to prepare for his death.”
Yolo County prosecutors, meanwhile, filed their own opposition to the petition, saying the very nature of Lemus’ crime makes him a public-safety risk.
Deputy District Attorney Kyle Hasapes, who tried the case, pointed out that Lemus assaulted Choate a full 12 minutes after the two men exchanged angry words on the bar’s front patio, entering the bar in order to challenge the victim despite witnesses’ attempts to calm him down.
“The defendant committed this action in a public place, at a time when multiple people were present and in harm’s way,” Hasapes wrote. “The actions of the defendant in this case show a very volatile and dangerous personality who has shown that he can and will act upon his urges and aggression.”
Supervising Deputy District Attorney Garrett Hamilton also said in court that given Lemus is “able to go about his daily activities … we’re going to stay opposed to this, because I don’t think this is anything that warrants compassionate release.”
Reed postponed a ruling on the petition to Nov. 6 in order to receive additional information about the extent of Lemus’ illnesses as well as input from the Yolo County Probation Department, which would oversee Lemus on mandatory supervision should he be released.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene