(CNN) California Gov. Jerry Brown continued his Christmas tradition of dispensing second chances to convicted felons, issuing 143 pardons and 131 commutations on Monday.

In one of his last acts as governor, Brown also ordered new testing of evidence in a high-profile, 1983 quadruple murder for which inmate Kevin Cooper and others have maintained that he was framed.

Cooper was convicted of killing Doug and Peggy Ryen, their daughter Jessica and 11-year-old Chris Hughes.

The outgoing governor has now granted 1,332 pardons and 283 commutations during the last eight years -- the most of any governor in modern state history, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

During his 1975 to 1983 gubernatorial stint, the paper reported, Brown pardoned 404 people and granted one commutation.

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