A Sacramento County judge will hear arguments Friday over whether former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger violated California law when he cut the manslaughter sentence for the son of a political ally just hours before he left office last year.

Lawsuits filed by the San Diego district attorney and the victim's family claim Schwarzenegger violated voter-approved Marsy's Law because he did not notify the victims' families or the district attorney who prosecuted the case that he was cutting the sentence of Esteban Nunez from 16 years to seven.

Schwarzenegger issued the commutation hours before he left office in January 2011 and just months after the sentencing of Nunez, the son of the governor's political ally, Fabian Nunez.

Read more at the Mercury News