Panel Calls for Moratorium on Executions

A moratorium on California executions passed its first test in the Legislature on Tuesday, despite objections from prosecutors and others who said it was unnecessary and would further traumatize relatives of murder victims.

After a 90-minute hearing, the Assembly Public Safety Committee approved a bill that would suspend capital punishment for up to three years while a commission studies whether the criminal justice system allows the innocent to be convicted.

Testimony against the proposal from a representative of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration suggested that even if the bill prevails in both houses, a veto could lie ahead.

Sue Blake of the state Office of Planning and Research said Schwarzenegger’s denial of clemency to convicted murderer Stanley Tookie Williams and two others “indicates he has a strong faith in the death penalty.”

Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Julie Soderlund said the governor had not taken a position on the bill. She said he reviews each request for clemency independently and on its merits.

The legislation, AB 1121, by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood), would halt executions at least until the end of 2007, when the bipartisan California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice would report its findings.

At that point, lawmakers could adopt a bill ending the moratorium in 2008 or allow it to expire automatically and executions to resume Jan. 1, 2009.

The 15-member commission, formed by the state Senate, includes representatives from law enforcement agencies and victims’ rights groups as well as criminal defense attorneys. Topics under scrutiny include the use of jailhouse informants and police suppression of exculpatory evidence.

Supporters of a moratorium say at least six men have been wrongfully sentenced to death in California since 1973, though the numbers are in dispute. California’s death row currently houses 646 convicts, more than any other state. About 20 are in the final stages of their appeals.

Koretz said he has conflicting feelings about the death penalty, but believes errors occur and a two-year delay is a small price to pay to “possibly prevent the execution of an innocent person.”

Foes argued that postponing executions would be unfair to relatives of murder victims, who already wait an average of 15 years as the condemned seek review of their cases in state and federal courts.

“Above all,” said Harriet Salarno of Crime Victims United of California, the moratorium “is an insult to the victims who have been tortured to their death and are unable to come here to speak to you today.”

The two Republicans on the committee voted against the bill, while four Democrats voted for it and one abstained.

Assemblyman Jay La Suer (R-La Mesa) characterized the moratorium as a thinly veiled attempt to overturn capital punishment incrementally, calling it “the first bite at the apple.”

Assemblyman Todd Spitzer (R-Orange), said a moratorium was not needed because the criminal justice system works.

“Can I say for certain that we have never gotten it wrong? No one can say that,” said Spitzer, a former police officer and prosecutor. Still, he added, “by the time someone is executed ... thousands of eyes and minds have reviewed the case.”

Other lawmakers noted that permanently ending capital punishment would require a vote of the people, because current law was established by ballot initiative. The Legislature has the power to put such a measure on the ballot.

State officials estimate that between two and five executions may be scheduled this year. Barring a last-minute legal reprieve, or clemency from Schwarzenegger, Clarence Ray Allen next week will become the 13th person killed by injection since capital punishment resumed in California in 1992.

Allen, 75, was sentenced to death for masterminding a triple murder while behind bars. On Tuesday, the state Supreme Court refused to block his execution. Attorneys for Allen said they planned to file papers in the U.S. Supreme Court today seeking a stay.

Surveys show that more than two-thirds of Californians support capital punishment. A Field Poll in 2000, however, showed that 73% of the state’s residents would favor a moratorium while the fairness of the death penalty was studied.

On Monday, the New Jersey Legislature became the first to enact a moratorium, a move that enjoyed bipartisan support.

The California bill, meanwhile, moves next to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Times staff writer Henry Weinstein contributed to this report.