HELENA, Mont., Nov. 20 (UPI) — A Montana man convicted of killing a teenage girl more than three decades ago was set free Friday after receiving clemency from the state’s governor.
Barry Beach was convicted of killing Kimberly Nees in 1979 and served 32 years of a 100-year sentence. Beach has long maintained his innocence and was even granted a new trial in 2011, during which time he was released and lived for 18 months outside prison.
The Montana Supreme Court, however, later reversed the decision and returned Beach to prison.
Friday, without weighing in on whether Beach may be guilty or innocent, Gov. Steve Bullock granted clemency, which again sprung him from prison.
Traditionally, it was the parole board that was the sole body tasked with issuing clemency for a prisoner, but a new state law now permits the governor to grant it, if desired. Last year, a parole board denied Beach’s request for clemency.
One reason for granting Beach’s request, Bullock says, is the fact that he was just a juvenile at the time of the 18-year-old Nees’ death in 1979.
“Life without parole forecloses the possibility of rehabilitation, and is an ‘especially harsh punishment for a juvenile, because he will almost inevitably serve more years and a greater percentage of his life in prison than an adult offender,’” Bullock wrote in an executive order Friday, quoting a precedent case, Graham v. Florida.
Bullock also said Beach lived a productive life on the outside before he was returned to prison in 2013 and has maintained a good correctional record.
“Mr. Beach demonstrated that he is capable of living a productive life and respecting society’s rules,” the governor added, noting that Beach has a good prison record. “Therefore, I, Steve Bullock, Governor of the State of Montana … do hereby commute the sentence of Barry Allan Beach to time served, with an additional 10 years which shall be suspended.”
In lieu of the additional 10 years, Beach will instead be on probation and monitored by state corrections officials.
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