California / IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Judge Allows Killer to Fire His Attorney

A judge ruled that a convicted killer who says he is ready to die in San Quentin’s gas chamber is competent to dismiss his court-appointed attorney. Attorneys involved in the case of David Mason have been notified of the decision reached in San Jose by U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte, said state Deputy Atty. Gen. Catherine Rivlin. “His execution date could be set sometime this summer,” she said. Mason, 36, was sentenced to death for strangling four elderly Oakland residents in 1980 and killing a jail inmate. An execution date has to be set at a public hearing before a judge in Alameda County, Rivlin said. The ruling by Whyte means Mason can dismiss his court-appointed attorney of nine years, Charles Marson, and waive his right to appeal in federal court. It is believed that Mason is the first Death Row inmate in California to volunteer to die.