In 1986, Bonnie Jean Foreshaw, the first person to shoot and kill a pregnant woman in the state of Connecticut, was sentenced to 45 years in prison without the possibility of parole. We believe it is the longest sentence given to a woman in state history. Foreshaw, now 64 years old, is seeking a reduction in sentence from 45 years to 40 years. She had been denied — for the second time — even a hearing on a modest proposal for a sentence reduction. A hearing request was denied in 2007 and, again this spring. She is now being afforded the opportunity for a clemency hearing before the Board of Pardons and Parole, which will take place in October 2013.
The board attributed its change of heart to a memo written by Judge Jon Blue, when he was a public defender, that Foreshaw's trial attorney, another public defender, had been incompetent. In that memo, Blue expressed his opinion that Foreshaw's trial attorney made several mistakes that resulted in her conviction. Richard Emanuel represented Foreshaw on appeal, and John Williams represented her in her habeas corpus petition. Neither attempt brought any justice or relief to Foreshaw who now, again represented by Emanuel, is seeking clemency largely based on her efforts to rehabilitate herself. Because a judge had rejected the argument that trial counsel had been ineffective, and because the board's website expressly states that clemency is not a way to address mistakes at trial, Emanuel had not relied on that claim in seeking relief.
