OAKLAND — Seventeen years after he was sentenced to 53 years in prison for killing a 62-year-old man while attempting to evade police, an Oakland resident has been released from prison through a motion by the Alameda County District Attorney’s office, court records show.
In a petition to grant early release to 53-year-old Claudie Easley, prosecutors cited a state law intended to reduce sentencing disparities, and added that Easley has performed “exceptionally well” while incarcerated. Easley was convicted of second degree murder and evading in the Aug. 27, 2003 crash that killed Clinton Grandy.
“(Easley) has engaged in a number of self-help and rehabilitative groups, and has had few rule violations (his last rule violation was in 2014 for possession of a cell phone),” Deputy District Attorney Dana Drusinsky wrote in a legal motion, later adding that he has a “realistic” plan to get back on his feet after his release from his prison.
Drusinsky added that prosecutors attempted to contact Grandy’s family but never received a response.
Grandy, a carpenter, was on his way to a store to buy dinner on the day of the crash, when, simultaneously, an Oakland police sergeant attempted to pull Easley over for running a stop sign in West Oakland, according to court records. Authorities claimed Easley sped away but that the sergeant didn’t initiated a pursuit, and that Easley ran into Grandy’s vehicle a few blocks away.
Easley, who also goes by Michael Nelson, has repeatedly expressed remorse for the killing. In a failed 2015 handwritten motion to overturn his murder conviction, Easley called the crash “horrible” and “unintentional” but added that he “had just come from a liquor store and dranked (sic) a little and smoked some marijuana.” At his 2006 sentencing hearing, he said he wished he could bring Grandy back.
“There’s many days that I thought about it, addressing the family, and just showing my remorse, how sorry I am for what happened…I had no intent to hurt this person,” Easley said.
Judge Jon Rolefson, who handed down the sentence, said he believed Easley was mostly sorry he was arrested, adding he wanted Easley locked up “for as long as possible.”
“While Mr. Easley didn’t intend to kill anybody, and while, on reflection, he may be remorseful, Mr. Easley’s demonstrated attitude toward other people when he’s in trouble just makes him an absolute menace,” Rolefson said.