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Ex-Assembly Leader Angers Family Of Slain Student

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CBS/AP) — Former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez has angered the parents of a 22-year-old college student who was stabbed to death, after Nunez said his son's manslaughter sentence in the case was politically motivated.

The parents of the slain student are suing the state and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. They claim he violated state law when he failed to notify them that he was reducing Esteban Nunez's 16-year manslaughter sentence to seven years just hours before leaving office last year.

Outside the first court hearing in the case Tuesday, Fabian Nunez said his son received a tougher sentence because of his father's political career and the district attorney's ambitions for higher office.

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KNX 1070's Ron Kilgore Reports

Fred Santos says it was Nunez who politicized the case by asking the former governor for a political favor.

The Santos' were seeking to reverse former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's order to shorten the sentence of Esteban Nunez.

(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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