Biography
Ivan Von Staich was a California prisoner who pursued relief for himself and similarly situated San Quentin prisoners over unsafe COVID-19 conditions in 2020. His underlying second-degree murder and attempted-murder convictions were entered in 1986; the court recorded state corrections custody beginning in 1989. The October 2020 appellate opinion found deliberate indifference and ordered protective placement and population-reduction measures. The California Supreme Court directed that decision be vacated and reconsidered on December 23, 2020, including consideration of an evidentiary hearing. These proceedings establish his prison-conditions advocacy, rather than a political motive for his underlying offenses. Neither the transfer order nor the parole decisions establish an actual release date.
Ivan Von Staich was a California prisoner who pursued relief for himself and similarly situated San Quentin prisoners over unsafe COVID-19 conditions in 2020. His underlying second-degree murder and attempted-murder convictions were entered in 1986; the court recorded state corrections custody beginning in 1989. The October 2020 appellate opinion found deliberate indifference and ordered protective placement and population-reduction measures. The California Supreme Court directed that decision be vacated and reconsidered on December 23, 2020, including consideration of an evidentiary hearing. These proceedings establish his prison-conditions advocacy, rather than a political motive for his underlying offenses. Neither the transfer order nor the parole decisions establish an actual release date.
Governor Brown, 2012 Executive Report on Parole Review Decisions, PDF page 11; Governor Brown, 2012 Executive Report on Parole Review Decisions, PDF page 12; Governor Brown, 2012 Executive Report on Parole Review Decisions, PDF page 13; Governor Brown, 2012 Executive Report on Parole Review Decisions, PDF page 14; In re Ivan Von Staich, A160122, October20,2020 (review granted), PDF page 1; In re Ivan Von Staich, A160122, October20,2020 (review granted), PDF page 2; In re Ivan Von Staich, A160122, October20,2020 (review granted), PDF page 41; In re Ivan Von Staich, A160122, October20,2020 (review granted), PDF page 42; In re Ivan Von Staich, A160122, October20,2020 (review granted), PDF page 43; In re Ivan Von Staich, A160122, October20,2020 (review granted), PDF page 44; In re Ivan Von Staich, A160122, October20,2020 (review granted), PDF page 45; California Supreme Court, Von Staich on H.C., S265173, December23,2020 order.
The 2012 governor’s report identifies Von Staich as E-10079. It separately describes federal imprisonment beginning in 1980 for threatening a witness in an arson case, parole to a halfway house in 1983, return to federal prison after 20 days, and a later actual release on November 14, 1983. That earlier prosecution contains a documented interruption and is not treated as one uninterrupted custody total. The 1989 date below records entry into state corrections for the later prosecution, rather than a claim that all pretrial custody began that year. In October 2020 he was held at San Quentin. Later release, death and current custody status remain unverified. Earlier custody included the California Youth Authority, from which the 2012 report records release in 1974, and Riverside County Jail, where it describes an assault-with-a-deadly-weapon arrest in 1976. Original custody bases and admission dates for these earlier periods are not established. A separate arrest described only as four months after the 1974 release is not assigned a calendar year.
Source-reported institution: California Youth Authority.
Source-reported institution: Riverside County Jail.
The October 2020 opinion records a parole-panel grant on October 16, 2020, following an advanced suitability hearing. It explains that Board and gubernatorial review remained, so the grant did not produce immediate release.
