London Lass
11-22-2008, 03:18 AM
Appeals court sidetracks California effort to resume executions
A state appeals court Friday ensured further delays in California's already inert death penalty system, finding that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration did not follow proper procedures when it attempted to revise the state's lethal injection method to get executions back on track.
In a 14-page ruling, the San Francisco-based 1st District Court of Appeal upheld last year's decision by a Marin County judge who found state officials failed to provide public scrutiny of plans to overhaul California's execution method. The appeals court ruling, if it stands, would force the state to go back to the drawing board in its efforts to bring the execution system into compliance with a federal judge's concerns that the current method is unconstitutional.
The appeals court ruling will have a ripple effect on California's bogged-down capital punishment system. A broader legal challenge in federal court to California's lethal injection method cannot move forward until the state comes up with a revised procedure, and that is now tied up further as a result of the appeals court's findings.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Ronald Matthias, who supervises the state's death penalty cases, was still reviewing the decision and could not predict the next step. But the state can either appeal to the California Supreme Court or move forward with public review of the proposed lethal injection reforms, and either process would take months or longer.
"We hope the state will now proceed to comply in light of the court's ruling,'' said Bradley Phillips, a lawyer for death row inmates.
The ruling is linked to a long-running challenge from death row inmates who argue that the lethal injection method is cruel and unusual punishment because it exposes an inmate to the prospect of an inhumane execution. Executions have been on hold in California for nearly three years as a result of the legal challenge, one of dozens around the country contesting lethal injection.
U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in December 2006 concluded the state's current lethal injection system is "broken,'' but outlined a number of steps state officials could take to address his concerns and ensure that executions are carried out humanely. In response to that ruling, the governor ordered state prison officials to come up with a new plan, which was unveiled last year. Among other things, the plan called for improved training and supervision of execution team members, as well as the construction of a new, modernized execution chamber, which has since been completed.
But the plan was challenged in state court under the argument it violated state procedures that require public review. Fogel put the federal case on hold until that issue is resolved.
In the meantime, the U.S. Supreme Court this spring upheld a lethal injection procedure in Kentucky similar to California's, a ruling that will set the ground rules for California's case when it returns to Fogel. There are now more than 670 inmates on death row awaiting execution, including several who have exhausted their appeals and will face swift execution dates if the lethal injections resume.
Condemned Santa Clara County killer David Allen Raley is among those inmates who have run out of legal options.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11044093
A state appeals court Friday ensured further delays in California's already inert death penalty system, finding that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration did not follow proper procedures when it attempted to revise the state's lethal injection method to get executions back on track.
In a 14-page ruling, the San Francisco-based 1st District Court of Appeal upheld last year's decision by a Marin County judge who found state officials failed to provide public scrutiny of plans to overhaul California's execution method. The appeals court ruling, if it stands, would force the state to go back to the drawing board in its efforts to bring the execution system into compliance with a federal judge's concerns that the current method is unconstitutional.
The appeals court ruling will have a ripple effect on California's bogged-down capital punishment system. A broader legal challenge in federal court to California's lethal injection method cannot move forward until the state comes up with a revised procedure, and that is now tied up further as a result of the appeals court's findings.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Ronald Matthias, who supervises the state's death penalty cases, was still reviewing the decision and could not predict the next step. But the state can either appeal to the California Supreme Court or move forward with public review of the proposed lethal injection reforms, and either process would take months or longer.
"We hope the state will now proceed to comply in light of the court's ruling,'' said Bradley Phillips, a lawyer for death row inmates.
The ruling is linked to a long-running challenge from death row inmates who argue that the lethal injection method is cruel and unusual punishment because it exposes an inmate to the prospect of an inhumane execution. Executions have been on hold in California for nearly three years as a result of the legal challenge, one of dozens around the country contesting lethal injection.
U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in December 2006 concluded the state's current lethal injection system is "broken,'' but outlined a number of steps state officials could take to address his concerns and ensure that executions are carried out humanely. In response to that ruling, the governor ordered state prison officials to come up with a new plan, which was unveiled last year. Among other things, the plan called for improved training and supervision of execution team members, as well as the construction of a new, modernized execution chamber, which has since been completed.
But the plan was challenged in state court under the argument it violated state procedures that require public review. Fogel put the federal case on hold until that issue is resolved.
In the meantime, the U.S. Supreme Court this spring upheld a lethal injection procedure in Kentucky similar to California's, a ruling that will set the ground rules for California's case when it returns to Fogel. There are now more than 670 inmates on death row awaiting execution, including several who have exhausted their appeals and will face swift execution dates if the lethal injections resume.
Condemned Santa Clara County killer David Allen Raley is among those inmates who have run out of legal options.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11044093