Ex-Prisons Chief, Former Warden Join in Urging Clemency for Harris
A former California prison system director who favors the death penalty and a former warden have joined relatives and psychologists in urging Gov. Pete Wilson to spare the life of Robert Alton Harris, whose execution is scheduled for April 21.
Ray Procunier, former head of the prison systems in California, Virginia and Texas, said disclosures that Harris may have suffered fetal alcohol syndrome changed his mind about the inmate, whom he would otherwise consider an “amoral, sociopathic killer.”
Len Chastain, former warden of the state prison at Norco, also called for clemency and said he was “disappointed and appalled” that the fetal alcohol syndrome had not been detected earlier.
The statements were contained in several hundred pages of documents that argue Harris’ mental illness was not given sufficient weight by the legal system. Wilson has scheduled an April 15 clemency hearing to decide whether to spare Harris.
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