The Region - News from Oct. 28, 1986

Kerry Lynn Brown, a South-Central Los Angeles man found guilty of the shotgun murder of a U.S. postal worker as she was delivering mail to his house, was sentenced to life in prison in Los Angeles federal court. Questioning the legitimacy of laws which mandate parole consideration after 10 years for life sentences, U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon ruled that Brown, 26, may not be released on parole for at least 30 years for the first-degree murder of Dale J. Hooker. “There is no question a problem in the law,” Kenyon said. “With all due respect to the Congress, they missed one.” Kenyon said he decided on the 30-year parole condition “so that something like this cannot happen again,” but added that he expects that either the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately will have to resolve the question.