Clemency board unanimously recommends commutation for Steven Carey after victim family member’s live forgiveness

The Washington Clemency and Pardons Board voted 4-0 on June 12 to recommend that Gov. Jay Inslee (the board noted the governor holds final authority) commute the sentence of Steven Carey, who has served more than four decades in prison for an arson that killed two people and severely injured another.

The board’s vote followed lengthy presentations from defense counsel Jeffrey Ellis, who acknowledged Carey’s responsibility but pointed to 44 years of institutional programming and multiple risk assessments showing a low risk of reoffense, and from deputy prosecutor Kellen Kustra, who urged the board to weigh the interest-of-justice standard and the record of decades in which Carey denied involvement.

"He is solely responsible for setting the fire," Ellis said in opening argument, while also asking the board to consider Carey’s record of mentorship, programming and stable behavior in custody. Carey, who addressed the board directly, told members: "I am solely responsible for setting the fire… I am exceedingly remorseful." The prosecutor’s office presented victim-family statements, read into the record by victim advocate Samantha Fellers, describing the lasting physical and emotional harm caused by the fire.

The hearing turned on competing weight given to two facts: Carey’s belated, explicit admissions about the crime (he told his parents in 1990 and wrote a letter to the governor in 2004) and his four-decade record in custody. Deputy prosecutor Kustra argued that Carey maintained public denials for years, that some trial testimony included lies, and that those factors undercut the sincerity of later admissions. "He lied throughout the trial," Kustra told the board, noting the long gap between conviction and public admission.

During deliberations a live comment from Janice Carey’s sister, Jeri Weber, shifted the tenor of the room. Weber told the board she believed Carey sounded sincere in his apology and said she had forgiven him "20 years ago," remarks several members described as influential. Board Member Rhonda Salveson moved to recommend commutation; Board Member Amin Flower seconded the motion. Vice Chair Doug Baldwin recorded the final vote as 4 to 0 in favor of recommending commutation to the governor.

The board said it had considered legal differences in this being a pre-Sentencing Reform Act case, including the option to commute to parole (which would yield lifetime supervision) or to a term of years, and noted Department of Corrections analyses that characterize Carey as a low reoffense risk. The recommendation does not itself release Carey; it is an advisory recommendation to the governor’s office.

The board concluded by reminding all participants that its recommendation is not the final act: the governor retains the power to grant or deny clemency and to set any conditions of release.

What happens next: The board’s recommendation and the hearing record will be forwarded to the governor’s office for a final decision.