SAN DIEGO (AP) — A California panel on Wednesday denied parole for Robert F. Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan, saying the 78-year-old inmate still lacks insight into what led him to shoot senator and presidential candidate in 1968.
Sirhan’s lawyer, Angela Berry, disputed that, saying Sirhan had demonstrated awareness and psychiatrists had said for decades that he was unlikely to reoffend or be a danger to society.
Two years ago, another California parole board agreed with Berry, voting to release Sirhan, but Gov. Gavin Newson reversed the decision in 2022.
Berry said he believes Wednesday’s new board members were influenced by Newsom and lawyers representing Kennedy’s widow and some of her children: Several relatives of the slain politician oppose Sirhan’s release, though not everyone is like that.
In denying Sirhan freedom last year, the governor said the prisoner remains a threat to the public and has not taken responsibility for a crime that changed American history.
“I feel like the board is bent on the political whim of the governor,” Berry said after the hearing at a federal jail in San Diego County.
The parole board hearing comes nearly six months after Berry asked a Los Angeles County judge to overturn Newsom’s denial. The case is ongoing, and Berry said it’s unclear how Wednesday’s denial by the board will affect him.
“They found it ready for release last time and nothing has changed,” Berry said. “He continued to show great behavior.”
In a 3.5-minute message broadcast during a news conference Berry gave in September, Sirhan said he feels remorse every day for his actions. It was the first time Sirhan’s voice was heard publicly since a televised parole hearing in 2011, before California banned audio or video recordings of such proceedings.
“To turn this burden into something positive, I have dedicated my life to self-improvement, to lead others to prison to have a peaceful life that revolves around nonviolence,” she said. “This way, I make sure no one else is a victim of my actions and hopefully have an impact on others to follow.”
Sirhan shot Kennedy moments after the US senator from New York claimed victory in California’s 1968 Democratic presidential primary. He wounded five others in the shooting at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
Sirhan was originally sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to life in prison when the California Supreme Court briefly banned capital punishment in 1972.
He was denied parole 15 times until 2021, when the board recommended his release.
Sirhan’s younger brother, Munir Sirhan, said his brother can live with him in Pasadena, Calif., if he is paroled. Sirhan Sirhan waived his right to fight deportation to his native Jordan.
Berry filed a 53-page writ of habeas corpus, asking the judge to find that Newsom violated state law, which says inmates should be released on parole unless they pose an unreasonable risk to public safety. Recent California laws also required the parole board to consider the fact that Sirhan committed the crime at a young age — 24 — and is now an older inmate.
He challenges the governor’s ouster as an “abuse of discretion,” a denial of Sirhan’s constitutional right to due process and a violation of California law. He also claims that Newsom misrepresented the facts in his decision.
Newsom’s office declined to comment.
Newsom overruled two parole commissioners who deemed Sirhan no longer a risk. Among other factors, Newsom said the Palestinian Christian who immigrated from Jordan has not renounced the violence committed in his name, raising the risk of inciting political unrest.
The ruling divided the Kennedy family, with RFK’s widow Ethel Kennedy and several of Kennedy’s nine surviving children opposing parole.
Sirhan’s 17th parole hearing is expected to take place in three years.
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