California High Court Blocks Pardon Of Man Who Robbed, Killed Woman At 14

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In a rare step, the California Supreme Court has blocked Gov. Jerry Brown's attempt to issue a pardon to a 37-year-old Cambodian refugee facing deportation for killing and robbing a woman when he was 14 years old.

The court offered no public explanation for its rejection on Wednesday of Borey Ai's pardon. The governor is required to obtain the court's approval for pardons for twice-convicted felons. The court rejected two other pardon requests two weeks ago. Court watchers say those rejections were the first of their kind in decades.

Ai was charged as an adult and convicted in 1997 of second-degree murder and robbery and sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison. He was paroled in 2016 and federal immigration authorities began deportation proceedings, which can be blocked by a pardon.