agingrebel.com Brian Brewer, a member of the Dago charter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, has been denied a compassionate release from prison. Brewer has cancer of the lungs, bones and lymph nodes. His condition is incurable and his hourglass is running out.
In the last six weeks 5,322 people have signed a petition addressed to California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris that asked that Brewer be released from Centinela (California) State Prison so that he could die with his family. The prison warden, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and a prison physician had all supported the release. Harris and Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley had to approve the release. They did not. Earlier this week Brewer’s family received the terse notice:
“The conditions under which the prisoner would be released pose a threat to public safety as referenced in Penal Code Section 1170(E)(2)(B) due to his extensive criminal history and association with a violent motorcycle gang coupled with his current full mobility.”
The Crime
Brian Brewer was accused of robbing a credit union in Northridge, California on April 16, 2002. No two bank employees agreed on a description of the robber. Fingerprints were found at the crime scene but none of them matched Brewer. No physical evidence linked Brewer to the crime scene. Brewer and a witness testified that Brewer was in Arizona at the time of the robbery. The total take from the robbery was about $1,700 and included “bait bills” which are bills given to bank robbers after the serial numbers have been recorded. None of the money was ever recovered. Brewer’s affiliation with the HAMC was introduced to the jury at his trial.
The jury found Brewer guilty of four counts of second-degree robbery and three counts of false imprisonment with a “third strike” enhancement. On August 1, 2005 Brewer was sentenced to four consecutive sentences of life imprisonment. Since his conviction Brewer has exhausted his appeals while consistently maintaining his innocence.
Friends and sympathizers may write the dying man at: Centinela State Prison, Brian Brewer, V98513, P.O. Box 731, Inf.-01 low, Imperial, Ca. 92251
