Parole board ordered to postpone hearing for OC murderer

An Orange County Superior Court judge on Thursday, Aug. 2, ordered the state to delay the parole hearing of a man convicted of killing his friend by beating him and throwing him out of an airplane.

The Board of Parole Hearings wanted to move up by a year the hearing for Lawrence Rayborn Cowell, who was convicted in 1983 of murdering 27-year-old Scott Campbell by throwing him out of a Cessna and into the ocean so he could steal Campbell’s sports car. Cowell is serving a 25 years-to-life sentence.

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas sued, alleging that the Board of Parole Hearings was violating Marsy’s Law, a state constitutional amendment that guarantees certain rights to victims, including attending parole hearings, restitution and being notified of all court proceedings. Rackauckas said Cowell’s hearing was unlawfully advanced by one year.

Thursday, Judge Martha K. Gooding granted a preliminary injunction against the Board of Parole Hearings.

“Today’s injunction gives hope to victims and reminds them the Board of Parole Hearings is not the final authority when it comes to parole proceedings,” Rackauckas said in a news release. “There is a process in place in which victim’s rights are constitutionally preserved and protected, even in death through the support of their loved ones and today, the Parole Board was reminded of that process.”

Campbell is the son of former San Juan Capistrano mayor and longtime victim’s rights advocate Collene Campbell.