Gov. Gavin Newsom reversed a parole board decision to grant release to a woman who was convicted and sentenced for the killing of a CHP officer in 2010, the SLO County District Attorney’s office announced Wednesday.
Kaylee Ann Weisenberg, who hit and killed CHP officer Brett Oswald while driving high on methamphetamine, was sentenced to 15 years to life for the June 2010 killing. Oswald was 48.
Weisenberg crashed into Oswald on South River Road in Paso Robles while Oswald was attending to a disabled vehicle. Weisenberg was convicted of second-degree murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
The California Board of Parole Hearings — the agency responsible for conducting inmate parole reviews — granted parole to Weisenberg after serving 12 years of her sentence.
That decision has been reversed.
“I have considered the evidence in the record that is relevant to whether Ms. Weisenberg is currently dangerous,” Gov. Newsom said in a letter announcing the reversal. “When considered as a whole, I find the evidence shows that she currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison at this time.”
The Board of Parole Hearings’ decision to grant parole was made in part due to a 2016 proposition passed by California voters, Prop 57. That allowed criminals convicted of violent crimes — even murder — to be considered for up to a 33% reduction in their sentence, according to the SLO County District Attorney’s office.
At the time of her sentencing, “good time” credits were not available to individuals convicted of murder.
"I am grateful for Governor Newsom’s decision to reverse the Board of Parole Hearings’ decision,” District Attorney Dan Dow said in a press release, who had urged Gov. Newsom to review and repeal the decision. “We agree with the Governor’s conclusion that Weisenberg currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison at this time.”
The decision to grant Weisenberg parole was made during her second parole-suitability hearing in 2022. She was denied parole during her first hearing, in 2021.
Weisenberg is being held at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla.
