The Womens Conference
The Nations Premier Forum For Women
Connie Keel
Life After Prison: How One Woman Overcame the Odds
After serving a 29 years prison sentence for sitting in a car while her husband robbed and killed a shop owner, Connie Keel became a free woman in April, 2009, thanks to the work of USC Law School’s Post-Conviction Justice Project.
Keel was only 21 years old at the time of the crime, but she had been a victim of extensive physical and sexual abuse. A board of parole hearings investigation found that her history of abuse led her to develop a condition, which prevented her from acting contrary to her husband's orders the night of the offense.
Before the California Board of Parole Hearings six times, Keel’s parole was finally recommended in October 2008. In March, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did not reverse a parole board’s recommendation to release Keel. This is one of the few times Schwarzenegger has not blocked a prisoner’s release on the Parole Board’s first recommendation.
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