Killer Who Had Asked to Die Will Seek Stay

Death Row inmate David Edwin Mason, who had volunteered to go to the gas chamber in five days, has changed his mind and will seek a stay of execution and a new trial, his lawyer said Wednesday night.

Attorney Mike Brady said he believes there are grounds for a retrial because Mason’s attorney during his original trial allegedly used improper means to report that Mason posed a threat to his lawyers and court personnel.

Brady said that the episode had come to light in the last month and that he was unaware of it until the Capital Appellate Project, a legal defense group opposed to capital punishment, presented Mason with an 88-page brief laying out the new claim.

Brady said he will file the brief today with the California Supreme Court and seek an order halting Mason’s execution, which is scheduled for 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

Although Mason volunteered for the execution, Brady said the prisoner cannot automatically call it off simply by saying he has changed his mind. He must ask the court for a stay.

Mason was convicted in 1983 of strangling and robbing four elderly people in their homes in Oakland in 1980 and of strangling a fellow jail inmate while awaiting trial in 1982.

Brady said the new evidence shows that during his trial, his attorney believed that Mason had made veiled threats against him. Rather than go to the judge and ask to be removed from the case, Brady said, the public defender went to his supervisor and together they called in a private attorney.

Brady said the private attorney testified in court that Mason had threatened to kill his lawyer and take hostages in court. Such a statement, Brady charged, amounted to perjury and was a breach of judicial ethics by all the lawyers involved.

None of the attorneys could be immediately reached for comment.

Because of the lawyer’s testimony, Mason’s cell was searched and a handmade tattooing knife was found and later introduced as evidence during his sentencing hearing.

Brady said Mason’s attorney brought the alleged threat to authorities because he was afraid of Mason. “In California, a client is entitled to a conflict-free attorney,” he said.

Brady said he was not happy that the claim of improper representation had not surfaced earlier, but he said he did not believe that the issue had been manipulated by Mason or death penalty opponents.

“I’m not going to sit back and let my guy be executed just because it’s convenient for the public,” Brady said.

Last month, Mason told reporters that he was ready to go to the gas chamber because he accepted responsibility for his crimes and believed that his death sentence was appropriate.

He said that nine years on Death Row had helped him understand the pain he had caused his victims and their families.

“This is not about changing my mind,” he said at the time. “This is nine years of growing up. This is nine years of becoming who I am right now.”