Criminal Justice

Irell & Manella LLP associate Bryant Yuan Fu Yang, the son of Burmese immigrants, typically focuses on white collar defense and IP litigation. His pro bono client, Edel Gonzalez, the son of Mexican immigrants, is believed to be the youngest juvenile sentenced to life without possibility of parole in Orange County's criminal justice history.

Yang would spring Gonzalez in California's first-ever recall and resentencing case under the new California Fair Sentencing for Youth Act, but despite their common background as sons of parents born abroad, their first meeting was fraught.

When Yang traveled to Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe, on California's border with Arizona, he was skeptical of his assignment to represent Gonzalez. "It turned out to be the most important case of my career so far," said Yang, who was admitted to the State Bar in 2007. "I didn't even want it."

Irell managers assigned Yang to the case both because of its importance as the premiere effort following implementation of the new law and because of Yang's resume as a former criminal prosecutor, a rare commodity in a firm principally focused on intellectual property and general business litigation.

"The partners asked me because I'd been a prosecutor," Yang said. "My reaction was that we weren't going to win."

Aiding Yang on the case were two other Irell associates, Zachary S. Davidson and Curt K. Brown. They got help from co-director Heidi L. Rummel and student Scott Mills at USC Law School's Post-Conviction Justice Project.

Yang's task was to persuade an Orange County Superior Court judge that his client, serving a LWOP sentence for felony murder for his role in a fatal gang carjacking he committed at age 14, was eligible for resentencing under the new law.

"I was aware that people could have their sentences recalled, but I hadn't really researched the new law," Yang said. "I was dubious that someone convicted of murder could qualify. I was suspicious of Mr. Gonzalez' story of having found God and redeemed himself."

Yet Yang's first meeting at the prison with Gonzalez, to prepare the inmate for a hearing before the judge, changed things. "He won me over," Yang said. "I was blown away by his sincerity and his thoughtful responses to my questions. His answers conveyed true remorse."

Gonzalez' subsequence appearance in court, with Yang at his side, persuaded the judge to recall the sentence and replace it with a parole-eligible term. People v. Gonzalez, C90670 (Orange County Sup. Ct., filed May 16, 2013).

But Yang's task wasn't done, because two further layers of review stood between Gonzalez and freedom: a session before the Board of Parole Hearings and a final decision by Gov. Jerry Brown. At each level, Yang argued that Gonzalez' 24 years behind bars was enough.

"Each finder of fact came to believe Mr. Gonzalez was rehabilitated and had taken full responsibility for his role in the crime," Yang said. "And they saw that he had been behind bars longer than he had been outside, most of the time in maximum security."

Two years after filing the case, Gonzalez was freed and deported to Mexico where he'd been born and from where he was brought illegally to the U.S. at age three. He's currently employed at a call center in Tijuana, Yang said.

"He's sober and happy," Yang said. "He's told me honestly there have been moments of hardship since his release, but he's doing OK."

The parallels between Yang and his client were apparent from the start, Yang said. "I grew up in Monterey Park, he was in Santa Ana. There was substantial gang violence around both of us as kids. His mother and my parents worked a lot and came home late. I really understood his milieu. It was difficult being raised that way. The way your life turned out depended on which group you hung out with."