Close to Home: Troubling decision to free man guilty of savage crime

On April 4, 1986, John Duport and two friends savagely killed two women in Sonoma County, stabbing them over 90 times and then slitting their throats before escaping out a back window. The group then went for cigarettes and food before running to Los Angeles to sell drugs. Today John Duport is free, thanks to an order by Superior Court Judge Robert LaForge.

This column is not simply about Duport and the vicious crime he committed but more about the system California has created for dealing with violent offenders. In an era where the emphasis is on release from prison and rehabilitation instead of incarceration, we may be losing sight of the appropriate sanctions for those who are violent and those who, once incarcerated, risk re-offending.

Just shy of 18, angry, drug addicted and lacking much moral fiber, Duport plotted to kill the women, one in her 50s, the other incapacitated by multiple sclerosis, for a rumored $2,000 in the house.

To this day Duport remembers the vivid detail of the horror that befell those women, including the number of times he plunged his knife into one woman’s back as she tried to defend herself.

Duport ultimately surrendered and struck a bargain that earned him a chance at freedom while his friends received harsher sentences. While incarcerated, Duport attended self-help programs and earned an associates degree. He also drank, used drugs and dealt drugs on a daily basis. For years, he lived in denial of what he’d done.

He came up for parole and was denied time and again, until his fourth hearing in 2014 when Duport claimed an epiphany after his father’s death a few years prior that enabled him to realize the pain he had caused by his violence.

He blamed his drug abuse and sales on prior parole denials and said he’d been clean since 2004 and had recently lost the craving for the illicit drugs and alcohol.

Duport’s plan was to live in a transitional program, with support offered by family members, and he promised to work hard to find a job and stay sober.

Over my office’s objection, the parole board recommended his release.

Gov. Jerry Brown overruled the board, citing numerous public safety concerns in his August 2014 decision.

Duport appealed, and LaForge, without notifying my office as mandated by law, reinstated the board’s parole grant, leading to Duport’s freedom today.

Unaware of the appeal or decision until a few days before his release, we were denied the opportunity to petition the court to uphold the governor’s decision. We were instead left to scramble to locate family members who might hear of the release through other channels before we could warn them.

There are those who will claim someone who committed a crime while so young deserves another chance. Some will applaud his work while incarcerated and suggest it guarantees success in a stressful world where employment, housing and sobriety do not come easily.

Some will consider his substance abuse and other admitted criminal conduct prior to the murders as situational and no longer relevant. Some will view his inability to abide by rules while institutionalized, continued abuse and sales of drugs while incarcerated, as characteristic of youthfulness, instead of indicators of behavior upon release.

A fight in 2008, due to Duport’s admitted disrespect for and bullying of his cellmate, will be seen as minor and not bearing on his anger management upon release. The court excused it.

In contrast, there are those who will wonder why the heinous nature of the commited offense is not a basis to deny parole any longer.

Some will wonder why any misdeed while incarcerated for such vicious conduct can be forgiven, resulting in release.

Some will wonder how many years must pass from violence, drug abuse and rule violations to ensure safety in our community.

As more offenders are released from prison, we will be challenged to offer support, while not forgetting those who were harmed, as we seek to protect our community.

Like John Duport, we have much work to do.

Jill Ravitch is district attorney for Sonoma County.