7thriv

In the waning hours of his term, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger commuted the prison sentence Sunday of the son of a political ally, former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, in connection with the fatal stabbing of a college student from Concord.

Schwarzenegger reduced Esteban Núñez's sentence from 16 years to seven years, calling it excessive because the young man - who pleaded guilty to charges including voluntary manslaughter - did not personally stab the victim and had no prior criminal record.

Schwarzenegger reduced two other prisoners' sentences and pardoned eight others.

Esteban Núñez, 22, is in state prison for his involvement in the 2008 killing of Luis Dos Santos, a 22-year-old student at Mesa College in San Diego. During a fight near a San Diego State University fraternity, a friend of Núñez allegedly stabbed Santos in the chest. Núñez admitted to stabbing another man during the fight, although that man survived.

Núñez, who was initially charged with murder, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in a deal with prosecutors and received the maximum sentence. Schwarzenegger called the sentence disproportionate, considering that the alleged stabber was also given 16 years.

Núñez's father, a Democrat, served two terms as speaker of the Assembly, from 2004 to 2008. Though he initially sparred with Schwarzenegger, the two ultimately became close and struck deals on bills to increase the minimum wage and curb greenhouse gases.