Deborah Peagler

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Deborah Peagler is a battered woman who has been in prison since 1983 for alleged involvement in the murder of the man who abused her, forced her into prostitution, and molested her daughters^[1]. Her incarceration became controversial in 2005 after Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley offered Peagler a deal to facilitate her release from prison, then refused to honor his own written word. Peagler's supporters have established a website to publicize her cause ^[2]. In 2008, a California Superior Court Judge removed Cooley's entire office from Peagler's case due to allegations of misconduct and conflicts of interest. ^[3]

In 1982 Peagler’s abuser was beaten and strangled to death by two Crips gang members who were friends of Peagler’s mother. Peagler was accused of first-degree murder alongside one of the gang members—the other gang member was a minor at the time and was charged with a lesser crime.

Peagler never had a trial by jury. Prosecutors threatened to pursue the death penalty against her, and her attorney urged her to plead guilty in order to save her life. She was sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison.

In 2002, lawyers Nadia Costa and Joshua Safran from the law firm Bingham McCutchen began working pro bono to free Peagler^[4]. Their work relied on a unique California law enacted in 2002. The law gives battered women in prison the chance for a new hearing if the original court never considered evidence relating to abuse.

In 2005, Peagler’s attorneys met with Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley at his office and showed him their evidence. Cooley concluded that Peagler had indeed been abused, and in writing he offered for her to plea to voluntary manslaughter, a crime that had a sentence of two to six years. At the time Peagler had been imprisoned for 23 years, so according to the deal she would be set free for time served.

Soon after authorizing the deal, however, Cooley withdrew from it. The Los Angeles County Superior Court then denied Peagler’s petition for release. Peagler’s attorneys have since appealed the ruling, and in 2007 they filed suit against the Los Angeles District Attorney over the broken agreement to free their client^[5].

Peagler is incarcerated at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, California, the largest women’s prison in the country. She directs the prison gospel choir and has earned two associates degrees while behind bars.