District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis will attend a parole hearing next week for a man who killed a San Diego police officer during a traffic stop in 1978.
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis will attend a parole hearing next week for a man who killed a San Diego police officer during a traffic stop in 1978. , 54, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole in the death of Officer Archie Buggs, who was 30 when he died.
Because Cecena was 17 at the time of the murder, his sentence was reduced to a seven-year-to-life term in 1982.
Cecena was denied parole 13 times. His unstable social history continued during his incarceration — he received more than 10 violation reports for misconduct while in prison, authorities said.
A change in the law made Cecena eligible for Youth Offender Parole last year. In April 2014, his release was approved by the parole board, but Gov. Jerry Brown overturned the panel's recommendation five months later.
Cecena's parole continues to be opposed by San Diego police Chief Shelley Zimmerman, Dumanis and the San Diego Police Officers Association.
"This was a cold-blooded execution of an on-duty San Diego police officer, which devastated the officer's family, his department and our community," Dumanis said. "The very nature of the crime was not only callous, but inexplicably senseless, and it demonstrates a total disregard for human life and disdain for those in a position of authority."
Buggs was shot four times after he stopped a car driven by Cecena, a gang member in the Skyline area.
Cecena fired five times at Buggs, then paused, walked toward the fallen officer and fired a final bullet into his head. Buggs died on the street, his hand still on his service revolver, authorities said.
"To this day, Cecena has never accepted full responsibility for executing Officer Buggs and glosses over the full horror of his actions, said Deputy District Attorney Richard Sachs, who will argue against Cecena's release. "Cecena's words of purported acceptance ring hollow, and do not demonstrate that he has fully embraced the execution nature of this killing. Unless and until he faces that, he will continue to be unpredictable and dangerous."
Cecena's parole hearing is set for Aug. 28 at Valley State Prison near Fresno.
