Parole Board Letter Excerpts and Links

For those interested in the rationale of each parole board member in recommending against clemency for David Woods, here are excerpts from each of their letters. Additionally, a link to each letter is included so they can be read in their entirety.


William R. Harris:

In Woods' request for clemency, his current attorneys describe his case as "has been the subject of a tortured past".[sic] He has been described as a neglected and abused child, whose case was improperly litigated on every step of the court system. However, Wood's [sic] childhood was not that bad and he was only in 3 foster homes and one county group home. The Parole Board recently saw an offender that had been in 28 foster homes and institutions before reaching adulthood, and he was not a murderer. I have to use offender to offender comparison for these decisions, not text books, and not apples to oranges.

...Practice making 20 stab motions, it takes so long and you can stop after 5, 10, or even 15. I believe Woods didn't stop because Mr. Placencia could identify him... Woods decided he had to die.

Click here to read Mr. Harris' letter in its entirety.

Valerie J. Parker:

By his own testimony... Mr. Woods admitted that he was the orchestrator of the events that day...He admitted that he was without a doubt the individual who in a raged [sic] filled moment, rage directed at his mother, violently stabbed this helpless 77 year old man to death.

Let's face it, at the time of this crime David L. Woods was considered in every sense of the word to be an adult. He now has to suffer the adult pain caused by his adult choices. Mr. Woods had every opportunity to help Mr. Placencia after stabbing him the first time. But as this helpless elderly gentleman pleaded for his life, Mr. Woods chose to continue to hurt and not help, until he had taken all of the life from this victim. Throughout the clemency process, this board has been sufficiently advised of Mr. Wood's [sic] tumultuous, tortured past, but I say to you today that his situation is not unique enough in my heart and mind to ordain or accept murder as a response to his pain or a means of coping with it.

Click here to read Ms. Parker's letter in its entirety.

Thor R. Miller:

The reality is that Woods is noto mentally incompetent. His legal counsel was forced to deal with a difficult, uncooperative client who even went so far as to file his own motions and failed to follow their legal advice and properly participate in his legal defense.

...Testimony and evidence provided concerning Mr. Wood's [sic] horrible childhood and appalling living conditions is merely an attempt to place blame where blame should not lie. Since when should having a horrible childhood give one the license to kill? Thousands of people experience horrors in their daily lives, yet most will continue to obey the law. No exceptions should be made for Woods.

Click here to read Mr. Miller's letter in its entirety.

Randall P. Gentry

Mr. Woods' own testimony sufficiently revealed the crime details to a point that it is not hard to understand the cruelty of his actions. Stabbing a person twenty plus times takes effort, a great deal of rage, and huge lack of respect for life. This was no bar room fight. This was a seventy-seven year old man in his home in the middle of the night murdered by three adults.

...This was not an accident, but a planned crime that may have deviated as intended. The result was murder. While we may all search to ease our minds as to why this crime occured, it is important to understand this crime did happen and Mr. Woods admits he committed the act of murder against Juan Placencia.

...In hindsight, [his background] may provide a precursor to the future, but I render a guess many children have had a similar horrible upbringing and yet failed to commit a murder.

...In my opinion, Mr. Woods is not a monster as society might define one, but Juan Placencia did not deserve to die this horrific death. With the lack of some fact or mitigation that is not currently in the record, I struggle to recommend that we should alter course from the original sentence.

...I continued to review and reread documents right up to the preparation of this recommendation to you. I was unclear on what I was looking for, justification to move forward with this sentence or a reason to recommend Clemency. The crime in question can be described in one sentence, but the reason behind the crime could take pages. I found it easy to be deflected from the decisions that has to be made. Attempts to present mitigating arguments for Mr. Woods, such as an awful childhood, a long standing issue with his mother, mild mental retardation, or even improper legal representation at trial fail to excuse what has been done.

Click here to read Mr. Gentry's letter in its entirety.

Christopher E. Meloy, Chairman:
[Woods'] level of understanding, his introspection, and his assessment of others in his life leads me to believe that Mr. Woods' mental capacity is more than sufficient not only to understand the correlation between his actions and logical consequences but he also appears to be a person who holds a personal peace after significant, in-depth, and introspective review of his life's situations.

...the truth was accurately discovered in this case.

...When satisfied with his thefts, Mr. Woods returned to Mr. Placencia but not to help despite the elderly man's pleas but to stab him 20 additional times leaving him for dead.

Click here to read Mr. Meloy's letter in its entirety.

Please e-mail notredameask@gmail.com if you have any issues opening these links.