KQED: Santa Clara Jail Deputies Who Admitted to Fatal Beating Will Be Freed
The three former Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies who admitted to beating a mentally ill man to death in his jail cell nearly a decade ago will walk free Tuesday under a recently negotiated plea deal, closing one of the final chapters of a case that led to reforms and stricter oversight of the local jail system.
At a sentencing hearing in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San José, Jereh Lubrin, Matthew Farris and Rafael Rodriguez heard from Judge Benjamin Williams that their time served in jail and prison, as well as credits for things such as good behavior, satisfied their current sentences of 11 years.
All three former corrections officers were convicted of second-degree murder in 2017 for the killing of Michael Tyree, but those convictions were overturned on appeal in 2022 after a change in state law.
The men have been on home detention since the summer. Following their court hearing on Tuesday, they could turn in their ankle monitors and begin a two-year period of parole.