| For Immediate Release December 20, 2011 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
PAROLE DENIED FOR MAN CONVICTED OF STABBING-MURDER OF COWORKER AND ATTEMPTED MURDER OF ANOTHER
SANTA ANA – The Board of Parole Hearings (Board), California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, denied the parole today for an inmate who was convicted of stabbing and murdering his coworker and attempting to murder another. Ivory Joe Valentine, 57, is currently being held at Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, CA. Valentine was sentenced Oct. 21, 1986, to 20 years to life in state prison with an additional one year for the sentencing enhancement for the personal used of a deadly weapon, after he was found guilty of one felony count of second degree murder and one felony count of attempted voluntary manslaughter. This case was originally prosecuted by former Deputy District Attorney Mike Jacobs.
Deputy District Attorney Marc Labreche attended the hearing via video conference to oppose Valentine’s parole. Before denying the inmate’s parole, the Board took into consideration Valentine’s recent prison rules violations and his lack of insight and remorse for the crime, citing that he is as dangerous today as he was in 1985. Valentine will be eligible for his next parole hearing in 2016.
Murder of Ronald Gorby
On Nov. 8, 1985, 31-year-old Valentine was at work when he was called to the Human Resources office on another floor. Valentine refused to go, which forced his supervisor, Personnel Director Ronald Gorby, and two other employees, including John Wolcott, to approach him at his work station. Valentine was being let go from his employment due to a personal problem he had with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which had become disruptive to the workplace and diminished his work performance.
During the termination, Valentine was told his last paychecks would be garnished to pay the IRS. Valentine became enraged, grabbed a knife, and murdered Gorby by repeatedly stabbing him. When Wolcott came to Gorby’s aid, Valentine stabbed him multiple times. Wolcott survived the stab wounds.
Lack of Rehabilitation, Remorse, and Threat to Public Safety
While incarcerated, Valentine has accumulated 16 prison rules violation, the last two serious prison rules violations for disobeying orders in October 2009 and disrespect in January 2010. The inmate’s other prison rules violations include force and violence, disobeying orders, contact conducive of violence, unauthorized possession of a computer disk, attempting to post changes to a computer from which he was restricted, being aggressive towards staff, refusal to work, substandard job performance, incomplete and inaccurate work, job performance, disruptive behavior, delaying lock-up, being out of bounds, and possession of an unauthorized food item. Valentine has proven that he cannot follow the rules, even in a highly structured environment, for any significant amount of time without engaging in institutional misconduct.
Valentine has yet to show remorse for his crime and sees himself as a victim for his and his family’s suffering due to his incarceration. In the People’s 2011 opposition letter it states that “the inmate continues to focus on the victims’ behaviors that provoked his aggressive reaction.