DEATH PENALTY IN CALIFORNIA : DEATH PENALTY FACTS

Legal executions in California were authorized under the Criminal Practices Act of 1851. On February 14, 1872, capital punishment was incorporated into the Penal Code, stating:

“The Sheriff . . . must be present . . . and must invite . . . a physician, the District Attorney . . . and at least twelve reputable citizens . . .; and he shall at the request of the defendant, permit such ministers of the gospel, not exceeding two, as the defendant may name, and any persons, . . . not to exceed five . . . . “ Lethal Gas: In 1937, the Legislature provided that lethal gas replace hanging, with August 27, 1937, as the effective date. First Death by Gas: Robert L. Cannon, 30, and Albert Kessell, 29, died in the chamber on Dec. 2, 1938; they had been convicted of murdering Folsom Penitentiary Warden Clarence Larkin in a foiled escape attempt. Legal Challenges and Changes: There have been no executions in California since 1967 due to various state and United States Supreme Court decisions. Capital Punishment Reinstated: The Legislature re-enacted the death penalty in 1977. It can be imposed by juries in cases of first-degree murder where there has been a finding of “special circumstances.” They include: multiple murders; murder by bomb or poison; murder during an escape; murder of a police officer, prosecutor, judge, or witness; and political assassination. Path of Appeal: Under state law, cases in which the death penalty has been decreed are reviewed by the state Supreme Court. The justices may: affirm the conviction and the death sentence; affirm the conviction but reverse the death sentence (which results in a retrial of the penalty phase); or reverse the conviction (which results in a complete new trial.) Defendants can seek broader review through a state habeas corpus motion. Failing in that, they can seek habeas review in a federal appeals court and, finally, the U.S. Supreme Court. NOTORIOUS EXECUTION CASES

Barbara Graham, a 29-year-old blonde, was arrested on May 4, 1953, in a surprise raid at a run-down Lynwood apartment, along with Emmett Perkins, 44, and John Santo, 48. They ultimately were convicted in the murder of 62-year-old Mabel Monahan. Graham, mother of a 14-month-old boy, had already been convicted of prostitution and perjury.

Graham was executed after two last- minute stays of execution, including one just 90 seconds before she was to enter the gas chamber. Graham became the third woman legally executed in California on June 3, 1955. Her cohorts, Perkins and Santo, were put to death a few minutes later.

Caryl Chessman, who was put to death in the San Quentin gas chamber on May 2, 1960, was a robber at age 16. Chessman was in prison all but two of the 10 years before he was charged with driving into lovers lanes with a red spotlight, robbing occupants of the cars and forcing two women to have oral sex with him.

Chessman, who became a best-selling author on Death Row, was found guilty of taking the women from their car, a form of kidnaping, and doing them harm, a capital offense. He was found guilty of 15 of 16 other counts.

An execution date was set eight times and stayed each time. But despite Chessman’s efforts and a 60-day reprieve by then-Gov. Edmund G. Brown Sr., a capital punishment foe, Chessman was put to death after 12 years on Death Row.

When 37-year-old Aaron C. Mitchell died in the gas chamber at San Quentin on April 12, 1967, it was California’s first execution in more than four years. Mitchell had been convicted of murdering a Sacramento policeman; then-Gov. Ronald Reagan declined to grant executive clemency one day before the execution.

Mitchell was taken into the chamber moaning loudly, as a crowd of 300 people opposed to capital punishment staged a vigil outside the prison gates. He shouted his last words, “I’m Jesus Christ,” shortly before he died. To date, he is the last person to be executed in California.

EXECUTIONS IN THE STATE 1893-1967

Number of Date Executions 1893 1 1894 2 1895 9 1896 6 1897 5 1898 9 1899 3 1900 5 1901 1 1902 4 1903 5 1904 7 1905 10 1906 5 1907 4 1908 4 1909 3 1910 2 1911 3 1912 6 1913 3 1914 3 1915 8 1916 7 1917 2 1918 3 1919 9 1920 6 1921 4 1922 5 1923 8 1924 10 1925 13 1926 8 1927 7 1928 5 1929 12 1930 15 1931 9 1932 6 1933 11 1934 9 1935 17 1936 17 1937 8 1938 11 1939 4 1940 6 1941 10 1942 9 1943 3 1944 7 1945 13 1946 6 1947 7 1948 11 1949 11 1950 7 1951 6 1952 9 1953 8 1954 9 1955 9 1956 5 1957 9 1958 6 1959 6 1960 9 1961 8 1962 11 1963 1 1964 0 1965 0 1966 0 1967 1

Source: California Dept. of Corrections