McManis Faulkner Secures Win in Death Penalty Resentencing Case for 1988 ESL Mass Shooter

McManis Faulkner successfully obtained the first and only denial in Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s campaign to resentence twelve condemned men on Death Row to life in prison. Jim McManis and a team of McManis Faulkner lawyers represented the wife of one of Richard Farley’s shooting victims, contesting Rosen’s petition to change Farley’s death sentence.

In 1988, Farley went on a shooting rampage at ESL, his former workplace, killing seven and wounding six. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 1992. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office sought to change his death sentence to life without parole.

On March 21, in a court hearing that included hours of excruciating personal testimony from Farley’s victims, Santa Clara County Judge Benjamin Williams denied the request, preserving Farley’s death penalty sentence. “It wasn’t easy reliving those terrible days and what the lives of these poor people have been like as a result of that homicide,” McManis said following the hearing. “I’m just glad for them that
we got this result.”

To view coverage of the matter, see below:

• NBC Bay Area, Dec. 6 – Santa Clara County DA proposes resentencing for convicted killer Richard Farley
• ABC 7 News, Dec. 6 – Hearing for South Bay murder convict’s death penalty resentencing continued to March 2025
• KTVU, Dec. 6 – DA’s move to reduce killer Farley’s sentence draws ire from victim’s families
• KTVU, Dec. 6 (TV segment) – Crime victim’s families decry DA’s efforts to reduce death penalty cases to life in prison
• MSN News, Dec. 6 – DA’s move to reduce killer Farley’s sentence draws ire from victim’s families
• News Break, Dec. 6 – Santa Clara County DA proposes resentencing for convicted killer Richard Farley
• News Break, Dec. 6 – Hearing for South Bay murder convict’s death penalty resentencing continued to March 2025