Justices, Deadlocked on 3 Death Cases, Await Panelli’s Vote

The state Supreme Court, deadlocked 3 to 3 on three death penalty cases, has scheduled new arguments next month in the cases so that newly appointed Justice Edward A. Panelli can cast the deciding vote, it was learned Wednesday.

The seven-member court must hold new oral arguments in order for Panelli to vote in the case. Panelli, appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian late last year to replace retired Justice Otto Kaus, has indicated through several votes that he strongly supports capital punishment.

The most sensational of three cases to be reargued involves Luis Rodriguez, convicted of killing two California Highway Patrol officers on Christmas Eve, 1978, on U.S. 80 near Sacramento.

One of the officers, Roy Blecher, was found handcuffed and shot once in the back of the head. Officer Michael Freeman was shot five times. The court heard attorneys argue Rodriguez’s case in May, 1985.

“We had thought the case would be resolved by this time. It means it will take a good deal longer to resolve it,” said Dennis Riordan, a San Francisco attorney representing Rodriguez.

A second case involves Steven King Ainsworth, convicted of raping and murdering a Cambodian refugee, Nancy Huynh, 30, whom he kidnaped from a Sacramento parking lot in September, 1978. Justices heard arguments on Ainsworth’s case in April, 1984.

The third case involves Ronald J. Smallwood, convicted of murdering George House in a Pasadena street robbery in March, 1979. Justices first heard arguments in May, 1984.

The high court has reversed 54 of 57 death penalty cases it has decided since capital punishment was reinstated in 1977, though it is rehearing three of those reversals.

Panelli and Justices Malcolm Lucas, Stanley Mosk and Joseph Grodin voted to rehear those earlier cases, all of which were reversed on Kaus’ final day as a justice, Dec. 31, 1985. Kaus cast votes to overturn the three sentences.

Unlike those earlier cases, no decision has been issued in the three cases to be reargued in May in San Francisco, and it is not known how the justices are aligned on the cases involving Rodriguez, Smallwood and Ainsworth.

The court, which rarely reargues cases, had been working in recent months to reach consensus on all cases left undecided when Kaus retired and avoid the delay that accompanies new arguments, justices have said.

But indicating that a majority of the justices could not decide the three cases, the court clerk advised attorneys in cases to prepare for new arguments.