Court Upholds Voiding of Death Sentence in 1980 Case

Anthony C. Bean was improperly sentenced to death for one 1980 Sacramento murder and improperly convicted of another, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

The court upheld a 1997 decision by U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb of Sacramento, throwing out Bean’s death sentence for the hammer bludgeoning of Beth Schatz, 56, because Bean was deprived of effective legal assistance during the sentencing phase of his trial.

The court said defense lawyer Harold Machen may have tipped the scales against Bean by inadequately presenting strong and readily available evidence of his mental impairment. Machen had no comment.

The decision came the same week as a U.S. Supreme Court ruling--the most recent in a growing series--rebuking the 9th Circuit for blocking capital punishment in the nine states within its jurisdiction and reversing its decision to grant a new sentencing trial for San Francisco killer Russell Coleman.

The 9th Circuit opinion in Bean’s case, like Shubb’s opinion 1 1/2 years ago, said Bean is entitled to a fresh sentencing trial for the Schatz murder.

But the appellate court went further than Shubb did. While upholding Bean’s conviction for murdering Schatz, it reversed his murder conviction and life sentence in the death a few days later of 65-year-old Eileen Fox.

Bean can be retried for Fox’s death, caused by a heart attack that was precipitated by injuries to her face, head and ear.

The appellate court agreed with a 1996 recommendation by a U.S. magistrate in Sacramento who said the cases should not have been linked.

Evidence tying Bean to the Schatz murder included his statements to two friends and his fingerprints on a window screen and kitchen counter, one of the appellate justices wrote. In the Fox case, there was only a fingerprint on a pair of sunglasses. Prosecution experts said it was Bean’s, but defense experts said it was a composite of several overlaid prints.

Wednesday’s majority opinion was signed by Judges Sidney R. Thomas of Billings, Mont., and William C. Canby of Phoenix. Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of Portland, Ore., dissented from both parts of the ruling.

Bean’s legal representation in his sentencing hearing could have been better but did not fall below constitutional standards, O’Scannlain wrote. He also disagreed with the majority’s finding that the jury’s verdicts would have been changed by a better defense in the sentencing phase and by separating the two cases.