Sacramento Bee: "Schwarzenegger says commutation was to help friend"
By DON THOMPSON
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he was helping a friend when he commuted the sentence of the son of a political ally.
Schwarzenegger reduced Esteban Nunez's sentence from 16 years to seven years on the day before he left office in January. Nunez, who is the son of former state Assembly speaker Fabian Nunez, had pleaded guilty in the 2008 stabbing death of a San Diego college student, 22-year-old Luis Santos.
The decision was criticized by prosecutors, fellow Republicans and Santos' family, and is now the subject of a lawsuit.