Seymour Is Denied Request to Witness Execution of Harris

In the midst of a close battle for Republican votes, lieutenant governor hopeful John Seymour said Thursday that he has requested a seat at next week’s scheduled execution so that he could demonstrate his support for the death penalty.

Robert Gore, a spokesman for Gov. George Deukmejian, said that Seymour’s request was turned down. He would not elaborate. Gore said it was the only request that the governor has received from a legislator wanting to attend the execution of Robert Alton Harris, scheduled for Tuesday, in the gas chamber at San Quentin.

“Being a strong supporter of the death penalty, I wanted to witness the first execution to take place,” said Seymour, a Republican state senator from Anaheim. “I think if you’re going to stand up on an issue and say, ‘I support the death penalty,’ then you ought to be willing to take a look at an execution.”

Seymour said his request was unrelated to the race for lieutenant governor, where he is in a close contest with state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) in the June 5 Republican primary. The winner will face Democratic Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy in November.

All three candidates support the death penalty.

“For anybody to attend that execution and make it into a political show, that would be a stupid political mistake because that would come off very ghoulish,” Seymour said.

He said he would not have turned his presence at the execution into a political event by holding “a press conference or anything.”

But both of the other candidates in the lieutenant governor’s race said they considered Seymour’s request to be pure politics.

“Like most supporters of the death penalty, I know this execution is justified,” McCarthy said Thursday. “But by treating it as a campaign prop, Seymour is reaching a new and repulsive low.”

Bergeson said: “I think it is politically opportunistic for politicians to make an event out of this. Considering the timing and the political nature that we are faced with in this campaign, I think it’s highly inappropriate.

“My position (on the death penalty) is firm,” she added. “I don’t need to prove my position.”

Seymour said his request was made to the governor’s office by phone by a member of his staff last week. He said he has not talked with the governor about his request.

Seymour said he does not know how he would have reacted to Harris’ execution.

“Having never witnessed one, I couldn’t tell you,” he said. “It’s like I’m in the Marine Corps and I say I’m going there to be a hero, but you never know how you’ll react until that first bullet is fired.”

Seymour said he did not believe the experience could make him reconsider his support for the death penalty. “It’s a matter of solidifying what I already believe.”

Harris, 37, is in line to become the first person to be executed in California in 23 years. He was convicted of the 1978 murders of two 16-year-old boys in San Diego County. A jury found that Harris abducted the boys at a fast-food restaurant and later murdered them.

Gore said there are 50 seats for viewing the execution at San Quentin’s gas chamber. He said the only elected officials scheduled to attend will be some county sheriffs.