Governor Will Hear Harris Clemency Bid : Execution: Wilson rejects killer’s presence, but will let attorneys and the D.A. argue pros and cons.

Gov. Pete Wilson announced Wednesday that he will hold a clemency review for Robert Alton Harris on April 15, one week before the convicted killer’s scheduled execution.

Wilson will not consider new evidence on Harris’ behalf or arguments on the ethics of the death penalty, the governor’s office said.

Instead, Wilson will allow one hour for Harris’ lawyers to make the case for mercy and another hour for San Diego County Dist. Atty. Edwin L. Miller Jr.’s office to argue for denying a commutation of the sentence.

Wilson refused Harris’ request to be present at the closed session, which will take place in the governor’s Capitol office, but Harris will be permitted to submit a written statement in his behalf.

“There are no guidelines that stipulate how a clemency petition should be addressed,” said Wilson’s press secretary, Bill Livingstone. “So there is great latitude given to the governor. It is a proceeding to determine if grace or mercy should be granted, so the formal rules that govern hearings and the legal process don’t apply.”

When Harris faced execution two years ago, then-Gov. George Deukmejian agreed to meet directly with the killer at San Quentin Prison to hear his appeal for clemency. But Deukmejian’s plan to televise the encounter prompted Harris to withdraw his petition.

At the time, Harris wrote, “I respectfully decline to be part of this media production that you call clemency.”

Harris was convicted in the 1978 slayings of two 16-year-old San Diego boys, John Mayeski and Michael Baker. Appeals in state and federal courts have won Harris a series of delays in the carrying out of his death sentence.

Many observers, however, including Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, believe that Harris’ appeals have now run out.

Harris’ defense lawyers said they hoped the governor would reverse course and allow the convicted killer to attend the hearing.

“I would think it would behoove the governor to look the individual he’s making this momentous decision about in the eye, and to hear from him personally when he makes a statement,” said San Diego attorney Charles M. Sevilla.

Prosecutors at the San Diego District Attorney’s office said it was no surprise that defense lawyers wanted to present Harris to Wilson. The district attorney’s strategy, said Brian Michaels, chief deputy district attorney, is also no secret: it’s to let the governor hear from the families of the two 16-year-old boys Harris killed.

Sharron Mankins, Michael Baker’s mother, is one of those who might be called to meet the governor, Michaels said. Mankins said Wednesday night she hopes to be able to tell Wilson that Harris should die in the gas chamber.

Harris “committed one of the most horrible crimes--taking the life of two children, kidnaping them, taking their lives and still going through a bank robbery,” Mankins said. “It was just a terrible, terrible crime.

“The punishment for premeditated murder, like those were, is the death penalty,” Mankins said. “And it should be carried through. (Harris) should not be granted clemency. He does not deserve that. His punishment was the death penalty. And it should definitely be carried out.”