Please try to use your own wording. This template is provided only for guidance on the content.

Please send the letter to Jorge Mancillas and/ or Caroline Heldman. Do not send it to Governor
Brown until after he has received Patricias official request for commutation.
The Honorable Governor Jerry Brown
State Capitol, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814
DATE HERE
Dear Governor Brown,
I write to request that you exercise your power to commute the sentence of Dr. Norma Patricia
Esparza.
Mention something about who you are, what you do and how you know Patricia or why you think her
case is important: I am.
Patricia is a campus rape survivor, suffered childhood sexual abuse and yet managed to overcome
adversity to build a life of accomplishment and service to others. She has been now victimized with a
sentence of 6 years in a plea deal she accepted under duress. Please end her unjust incarceration and
allow her to return to her family and rebuild the life that she worked so hard to build.
Offer your view of her character.
(MAKE SURE TO ADD LOTS OF PERSONAL, HUMANIZING DETAILS HERE).
State why you think her sentence should be commute: she is innocent, the prosecutor knows it and she
accepted a plea deal under pressure. Try to use your own words, here is a sample:
I believe a commutation is appropriate because she is completely innocent of the charges against her,
and she helped prosecutors -who assured her she was not a suspect or a target- crack a case that was
unresolved for 18 years. Initially, in December 2012, Patricia was released, granted bail, and in a clear
statement of her honesty, reliability and credibility, she was given her passport and allowed to leave
for France. After the perpetrators were arrested and indicted thanks to her testimony, the prosecutor
turned against her and in November 2013, to pressure her, she was jailed under very punitive
conditions. In September 2104, she was advised by her lawyer to accept a plea deal of voluntary
manslaughter with a sentence of 6 years. Her lawyers concern was that the legal doctrine of natural
and probable consequences would be used against her, and she would risk an Orange County jury
decision that would result in a long prison sentence.
I urge you to consider that her case has implications for rape victims who will wonder whether they
will be believed and how they will be treated if they do go forward to the police. Patricia failed to
report it initially as she was traumatized by her rape and subsequently because of her fear of Kody
Trans death threats until he died in a shootout with the police in 2012. When she cooperated with
investigators, the prosecutor, in spite of previous assurances that they were aware of her innocence,
not only falsely charged her, but has repeatedly questioned publicly she was ever raped, in spite of
acknowledgements that he did by the rapists brothers, his roommate and a close friend.
Patricia is a kind, generous person who poses no threat to society nor has ever harmed anyone. She
has already served 3 years in jail and her continued incarceration serves no purpose. She has lost her
job and ability to practice her profession, her daughter sorely needs her and her husband is now
fighting an aggressive metastatic cancer.
A PERSONALIZED CLOSING PARAGRAPH HERE.
Sincerely,

YOUR NAME