Recently, a California man pled guilty to the 2006 mur­der of Highway Patrolman Earl Scott. The defen­dant, Columbus Allen Jr., whose pre-tri­al pro­ceed­ings took more than four years, will now spend the rest of his life in prison, hav­ing waived his appeals. The Stanislaus County dis­trict attor­ney orig­i­nal­ly sought the death penal­ty against Allen, but there were no guar­an­tees that ver­dict would have been reached. Additionally, when the death penal­ty is imposed in California, years of appeals often fol­low, and it is not unusu­al for con­vict­ed mur­der­ers to out­live the fam­i­ly mem­bers of the mur­der vic­tims. An edi­to­r­i­al in the Modesto Bee not­ed that the plea will save the coun­ty over $1 mil­lion in addi­tion­al expens­es that would have been spent in a cap­i­tal tri­al. Moreover, the paper not­ed, the empha­sis can now be put on the vic­tim, rather than on the pepe­tra­tor: ​“In recent years, it has seemed that Earl Scott was the for­got­ten vic­tim and all the atten­tion was on Allen, who went through mul­ti­ple defense attor­neys. Every time the tri­al was about to pro­ceed, there would be anoth­er motion caus­ing a delay. It was frus­trat­ing, even for those who val­ue the process over a rush to justice.…[Now] Earl Scott … will be remem­bered — by his fam­i­ly and friends, of course, but also by his col­leagues in law enforce­ment and by our com­mu­ni­ty.” Read full editorial below.

Tuesday, Aug. 03, 2010
A sat­is­fac­to­ry end to CHP tragedy 

The court pro­ceed­ings against Columbus Allen Jr. II dragged on for more than four years and then came to an abrupt and some­what sur­pris­ing con­clu­sion Monday morn­ing with his guilty plea to the 2006 mur­der of California Highway Patrolman Earl Scott.

It is, we think, the best out­come for this hor­rif­ic crime. Allen, 34, will spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole.

Bill Scott, Earl’s father, told The Bee that he was sat­is­fied with the res­o­lu­tion, in part because it assures that the fam­i­ly will see Allen pun­ished for his crime.

The Stanislaus County dis­trict attor­ney’s office was seek­ing the death penal­ty, but there were no guar­an­tees that the jury and judge would have reached that ver­dict. And even when the death penal­ty is imposed in California, it results in year after year of appeals. It is not unusu­al for con­vict­ed mur­der­ers to out­live the fam­i­ly mem­bers of the murder victims.

The Allen case won’t be tan­gled up in any of that. It’s over. Allen plead­ed guilty to mul­ti­ple charges and, as part of the offer through his attor­ney, waived the right to appeal.

A side ben­e­fit — though sure­ly not a decid­ing fac­tor — is that this plea will save the coun­ty $1 mil­lion or more in addi­tion­al pros­e­cu­tion expens­es expect­ed with a tri­al that like­ly would have last­ed four to six months. Of course the coun­ty has already spent a siz­able sum to get to this point.

Earl Scott was gunned down along Highway 99 near Salida ear­ly in the morn­ing of Feb. 17, 2006. Neighbors and law enforce­ment col­leagues described him as a loy­al friend, a devot­ed offi­cer and the kind of man you want­ed your sis­ter to fall in love with. He reg­u­lar­ly invit­ed neigh­bors into the garage of his Hughson home.

In recent years, it has seemed that Earl Scott was the for­got­ten vic­tim and all the atten­tion was on Allen, who went through mul­ti­ple defense attor­neys. Every time the tri­al was about to pro­ceed, there would be anoth­er motion caus­ing a delay. It was frus­trat­ing, even for those who val­ue the process over a rush to justice.

There is no hap­py out­come in any mur­der case, espe­cial­ly one that takes the life of a ded­i­cat­ed law enforcement officer.

But we think there’s some clo­sure in the fact that Allen will spend how­ev­er many years he has left in state prison. He’ll go first to one of the 11 pris­ons with receiv­ing cen­ters, where he’ll be eval­u­at­ed. But as a mur­der­er, he’s des­tined for a max­i­mum secu­ri­ty prison some­where in the state. It’s unlike­ly we’ll hear much about him again.

Earl Scott, on the oth­er hand, will be remem­bered — by his fam­i­ly and friends, of course, but also by his col­leagues in law enforce­ment and by our com­mu­ni­ty. Two years ago, a park in Hughson was renamed in his memory.

(“A sat­is­fac­to­ry end to CHP tragedy,” The Modesto Bee, August 3, 2010). See Editorials, Life Without Parole and Victims.

Citation Guide