Relief Floods Families of Harris’ Victims

Marilyn Clark had been fretting all day. Actually, she’d been so nervous that she didn’t even go to work, just puttered around the house and worried about Gov. Pete Wilson, who was weighing whether to grant clemency to the man who had killed her brother and his best friend.

At 6 p.m., live and in color from Sacramento, the TV delivered the verdict: There would be no clemency for condemned killer Robert Alton Harris. As Wilson spoke, the tears streamed down Clark’s face.

“A feeling of relief and pure happiness went through me,” Clark said. “This is so close to an ending.”

Nearly 14 years after Harris killed Clark’s brother, John Mayeski, and his best friend, Michael Baker, Wilson’s ruling Thursday removed one of the last legal obstacles to Harris’ execution, set for 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

Harris, 39, would be the first inmate convicted in California in 25 years. His only hope for a reprieve rests in possible court appeals, which are likely to be filed today.

Wilson’s decision was announced the day after the governor met with Harris’ defense lawyers and with five members of the Baker and Mayeski families in the first clemency hearing in California since the 1960s.

The defense contended that Harris suffers from fetal-alcohol syndrome, or brain damage stemming from his mother’s alcohol consumption while she carried him, leaving him unable to control his impulses. San Diego prosecutors and the two families told Wilson that Harris deliberately planned and executed the killings in cold blood.

Wilson announced Thursday that, although he has compassion for Robert Harris, whose childhood was a “living nightmare,” that did not excuse the “chilling” evidence that the 25-year-old Robert Harris carried out the killings with a “clear criminal purpose.”

The relatives who met face to face with the governor said Thursday they were convinced that Wilson took their grief into account in his decision.

“I think actually seeing the victims’ families, telling him exactly what we feel, the tears flowing and putting him in our shoes, I think that helped a great deal,” Clark said.

Many of the five speakers Wednesday were overcome with emotion and broke into tears.

“That had to have made an impression on him,” said Sharron Mankins, Michael Baker’s mother.

Mankins, who heard the governor’s decision on the radio while driving home, said she cried tears of relief at the news. Behind the wheel, her husband of 17 years, Sam Mankins, whooped for joy.

“It felt like I held my breath through (Wilson’s) whole presentation,” Sharron Mankins said. “But I was just so sure the outcome would be denial of clemency. I was very emotional. My husband was cheering. I was cheering, but my eyes were tearing, also.

“It’s hard to describe. You just get so overwhelmed. This has been a long road for us. Each time we thought we were getting closer, there’d be a new appeal, and we’d have to start over again. We have our fingers crossed still, but we really feel justice is going to be carried out this time.”

Anton Mayeski, 39, John Mayeski’s brother, caught the governor on television at work in Ramona. “I said, ‘Hooray!’ ” Mayeski said. “It’s about time the state did its job.”

Mayeski said he was not worried that Wilson would reach a different result: “All day, I didn’t worry at all. It was just upsetting. I want this all to end. I want it to be over with. I want to get on with my life.”

Steve Baker, a San Diego police officer and Michael Baker’s father, said he also had been convinced that Wilson would deny clemency.

“I was pretty confident he was going to come out with the decision he did,” Baker said. “Most of the people against the death penalty, or those who claim that Harris has fetal-alcohol syndrome, have not read the transcripts of the trial. The governor has. If you’ve read them, you know that’s the only answer you can come up with.”

There’s “still a chance” a court might put off the execution, Baker said. But, at least for one night, there was emotion to savor.

“I feel good inside,” Clark said. “This is the first bit of peace inside I’ve had in a long time.”