D.A.’s Motive in Seeking Death Penalty Questioned : Crime: Lawyers for man accused of killing a nurse cite the timing of Bradbury’s decision in alleging that he is doing it for political gain.

Lawyers for a 19-year-old Thousand Oaks man facing the death penalty charged Monday that Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury appears to be seeking the maximum sentence in the case for his own political gain.

The lawyers noted that Bradbury’s decision to pursue a death-penalty conviction against Mark Scott Thornton came one day after the district attorney went public with his reelection plans.

But prosecutors strongly denied the allegation.

In fact, Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin J. McGee said the decision in the Thornton case was delayed for several weeks because defense attorneys needed more time to provide Bradbury with information on why their client should not face the death penalty.

“It’s regrettable that they feel the decision has political overtones to it,” McGee said.

If the defense attorneys had not requested the extra time, McGee said, the decision in the Thornton case would have been made in December--or way before Bradbury made known his reelection intentions.

After entering not-guilty pleas to a 14-count indictment against Thornton on Monday, the defense attorneys also said outside the courtroom that Bradbury appears to be trying to capitalize on the public’s heightened fear of crime.

Deputy Public Defenders Howard J. Asher and Susan R. Olsen said many Ventura County residents have become more afraid of crime in the aftermath of a deadly December shooting spree by a chronically unemployed man.

“It’s one thing to prosecute aggressively. It’s another thing when a district attorney has sole discretion (whether to seek the death penalty) and abuses that discretion,” Asher said. “A significant portion of the community thinks that seeking the death penalty means getting tough on crime.”

Bradbury was en route to Sacramento for a statewide prosecutors’ conference and unavailable for comment.

But McGee said it was coincidental that the decision to seek the death penalty against Thornton came a day after Bradbury’s reelection announcement.

He said prosecutors had planned to decide the matter earlier, but the defense team’s request for a delay put it off by several weeks.

Police say Thornton kidnaped and fatally shot Westlake nurse Kellie O’Sullivan, the mother of a young son, on Sept. 14. Her body was found in the Santa Monica Mountains 12 days later.

Thornton was arrested in Reno on Sept. 19. He was in possession of O’Sullivan’s car. Thornton has admitted to police that he stole the car and used it to abduct his ex-girlfriend, who he then drove to Reno. But Thornton has denied killing O’Sullivan.

Prosecutors announced their death-penalty decision in the case on Jan. 5, the day after Bradbury announced he would seek a fifth term as district attorney.

In his reelection announcement, Bradbury issued a statement that said crime will continue to increase at “an alarming rate” in the 1990s. “I want to continue to send the strong message that criminal activity will not be tolerated in Ventura County,” he said.

Prosecutors said Monday that they traditionally make a decision on death-penalty cases shortly before a defendant is arraigned.

“I don’t think the two events are related,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter D. Kossoris, who is trying the case, told reporters after the arraignment.

But Asher and Olsen said they suspect just the opposite.

The defense attorneys said the crimes for which Thornton are charged do not compare with the deeds of the seven other men from the county who are on Death Row. Those defendants were convicted of either multiple murders, having committed murder more than once, murder during a sexual assault or murder that involved the torture of a child, Asher said.

“Mark Thornton’s case, while tragic, doesn’t fall into any of those categories,” Asher said. “Mark Thornton’s criminal history does not hold a candle” to the others. Thornton has twice been convicted of burglary--once as a juvenile and once as an adult.

The attorneys also said they will ask that Thornton’s trial be moved from the county because of heavy publicity surrounding the case. Superior Court Judge Charles R. McGrath said he would hear the motion for a change of venue on June. 10.

McGrath set an Aug. 1 trial date. The trial is expect to last about four months.

The district attorney’s decision to seek the death penalty in the case effectively ends any chance of a plea bargain in the case, defense attorneys said.

“It’s hard to negotiate when someone is seeking the death penalty,” Asher said.