STATE : Harris’ Death Sentence Upheld
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SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court today upheld the death sentence of San Diego killer Robert Alton Harris, whose April 3 execution was blocked 12 hours short of his date with California’s gas chamber.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, with one dissent, rejected the defense argument that Harris should be given an evidentiary hearing in San Diego on the competence of his trial psychiatrists.
The decision is not the final word on Harris’ fate, however. Harris may appeal the latest ruling to all 27 judges of the 9th Circuit and, failing there, to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Harris, 37, was convicted of the 1978 murders of two San Diego teen-agers so he could use their car to rob a bank.
His death in San Quentin’s gas chamber would be the first since police killer Aaron Mitchell was executed April 12, 1967. California’s criminal justice system has sentenced more than 300 murderers to die since 1977, when capital punishment was reinstated.
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