THE TIMES POLL : Voters Favor Execution by Nearly 4 to 1

The verdict of California voters is nearly 4 to 1 that the state should execute Robert Alton Harris, sentenced to die in San Quentin’s gas chamber for killing two San Diego teen-agers, The Los Angeles Times Poll has found.

Harris’ execution, which had been scheduled for 3 a.m Tuesday, was stayed indefinitely Friday by a federal appeals court judge to give lawyers for the Death Row inmate more time to challenge the competence of his trial psychiatrists. But lawyers for the state have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to lift the stay and allow the execution to go forward as planned.

In the court of public opinion, the clear judgment is that Harris should die.

The Times poll, in a survey ending last Wednesday night, asked a simple question that did not even refer to Harris’ crime. It merely inquired of those interviewed whether they favored Harris’ execution on Tuesday and noted that he would be the first to die in the gas chamber since 1967.

The response was: In favor of the execution 60%, opposed 16%, don’t know 5%, “haven’t heard enough to say” 19%.

Harris, who already had served a prison term for beating a man to death, was sentenced to the gas chamber in 1979 for murdering two teen-age boys he had kidnaped while stealing a car to use in a bank holdup.

The voters’ verdict on his execution, as measured by The Times poll, reflected the public’s strong, longstanding support for capital punishment, an attitude that was reaffirmed in this survey.

Asked whether they generally favored or opposed the death penalty for convicted murderers, the voters’ response was: In favor 78%, opposed 18%, not sure 4%. That is virtually identical to voter sentiments found by The Times poll in 1985 and 1981.

In the latest survey, The Times poll, directed by I.A. Lewis, interviewed 1,667 registered voters by telephone for six days. The margin of error is three percentage points in either direction.

People also were asked which sentence they favored more strongly for convicted murderers--”the death penalty or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.” The answer, by nearly 2 to 1, was the death penalty--60% to 32% with 8% not certain.

This response contrasted somewhat with the findings of a poll sponsored last December by Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union. That survey, conducted by the San Francisco-based Field Institute, asked a slightly different question and got a different answer. It found 67% of the public preferring that murderers be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, if they also are required to work in prison to pay the victims’ survivors.

Exactly why so many people favor capital punishment is not easily determined by a poll.

Most voters think the death penalty seldom “acts as a deterrent to crime,” the Times survey showed. The vast majority--more than two-thirds--also say that “revenge for their victims” is no reason to execute murderers. And three-fourths assert it is wrong “for the state to execute prisoners because it will save money.”

Eight in 10 people say they believe that “innocent persons are executed” sometimes. Still, these voters favor capital punishment by 4 to 1.

More than a third of the voters say that minorities are more likely to be executed than Anglos even if they commit the same crime. However, two-thirds of the people who think this still favor the death penalty.

It would appear that many people who favor capital punishment do not wrestle with the morality of official state executions. Asked whether “it is morally wrong to take a life no matter what the circumstances, or is it morally right to take a life depending on the circumstances,” 6 in 10 said it sometimes is all right. But of the 3 in 10 who said taking a life is always wrong morally, a large majority still favored capital punishment.

There are fewer death penalty supporters in the San Francisco Bay Area than any other region of the state--but even there, two-thirds of the voters favor it.

Politically, 87% of Republicans favor capital punishment, but so do 71% of Democrats. Even nearly two-thirds of self-described liberals support it.

Relating the issue to the current race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, the only candidate who personally supports the death penalty--former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein--ironically is backed by voters with the softest attitude, relatively, toward capital punishment. Although nearly two-thirds of Feinstein’s supporters favor capital punishment, roughly half say they would prefer life imprisonment rather than the death penalty.

By contrast, her campaign rival--Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp--personally opposes capital punishment, but he has promised to carry out executions because they are the law. Nearly three-fourths of his supporters favor capital punishment and they prefer the death penalty over life imprisonment by nearly 5 to 3.

VIEWS ON THE DEATH PENALTY The following questions were asked of 1,667 registered voters.

Do you favor or oppose the death penalty for persons convicted of murder?

Favor: 78%

Oppose: 18%

Don’t Know: 4%

For persons convicted of murder, which do you favor more strongly: the death penalty or a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole?

Death penalty: 60%

Life imprisonment: 32%

Don’t know: 8%

How often do you believe the death penalty acts as a deterrent to crime?

Often: 39%

Seldom: 56%

Don’t know: 5%

Do you believe it is morally wrong to take a life--no matter what the circumstances, or do you think it is morally right to take a life--depending on the circumstances?

Morally wrong: 31%

Morally right: 62%

Don’t know: 7%

Do you think it is all right for the state to execute prisoners because it will save money, or do you thing that is wrong?

Right: 18%

Wrong: 76%

Don’t know: 6%

Do you believe that the state should execute murderers as a revenge for their victims, or not?

Yes, revenge: 22%

No: 70%

Don’t know: 8%

How often do you believe innocent persons are executed?

Sometimes: 80%

Never: 14%

Don’t know: 6%

Some people say that minority groups are more likely to receive the death penalty than whites who commit the same kind of crimes. How often do you believe that happens?

Often: 36%

Seldom: 56%

Don’t know: 8%

Are you in favor of the execution Tuesday, April 3, of Robert Alton Harris, who will be the first person to be executed in the gas chamber in California since 1967, or do you oppose it--or haven’t you heard enough about that yet to say?

Favor: 60%

Oppose: 16%

Haven’t heard enough: 19%

Don’t know: 5%

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times Poll