Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Court Won’t Block Death Penalty Trials Despite Moratorium
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
September 12, 2019

Share

SACRAMENTO — The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to block death penalty cases from proceeding during Gov. Gavin Newsom’s moratorium on executions.

“In light of this paradigm shift, a California jury in a capital case cannot be expected to provide a fair and reasoned penalty phase determination free from speculation.” — defense attorney Robert Sanger wrote on behalf of his client, Cleamon Demone Johnson
The justices rejected defense attorneys’ arguments that jurors can’t realistically gauge the seriousness of imposing a death sentence if they think it’s never actually going to be carried out.
Newsom halted executions in March for as long as he remains governor, but the death penalty remains on the books and courts have been proceeding on the assumption that executions may one day resume.
Attorneys for two men separately facing trials in multiple slayings say it’s unfair to ask jurors to consider what for now would be hypothetical sentences.
“In light of this paradigm shift, a California jury in a capital case cannot be expected to provide a fair and reasoned penalty phase determination free from speculation,” defense attorney Robert Sanger wrote on behalf of his client, Cleamon Demone Johnson.
He is awaiting trial on five counts of capital murder and one of attempted murder. An appeals court said they were “six casualties of the gang wars between the Bloods and the Crips in the early 1990s.”
In this March 13, 2019, handout provided by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation a death penalty chamber chair is carried to a truck at San Quentin State Prison, in San Quentin, Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order, Wednesday, placing a moratorium on the death penalty. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via AP)

Voters Have Repeatedly, if Narrowly, Supported Executions

California hasn’t executed anyone since 2006. Still, Los Angeles County prosecutors contend that barring jurors from considering death sentences would be “tantamount to judicial abolition of the death penalty in violation of the wishes of California voters.”
Voters have repeatedly, if narrowly, supported executions and in 2016 approved a ballot measure to speed them up. Lawmakers backed by the governor are considering putting another measure on the November 2020 ballot to repeal the death penalty.
In July, the justices temporarily halted the case against Jade Douglas Harris. He could face a death sentence if convicted of charges that he killed three people and wounded a 13-year-old boy while stealing a car in 2012.
In a related development Wednesday, attorneys representing condemned inmates asked a U.S. judge to enter a final judgment in their favor in their legal challenge to California’s plan to use lethal injections to carry out executions.
The lawyers are seeking the judgment because Newsom withdrew the state’s plan to use a single injection of powerful barbiturates and ordered the state’s death chamber to be symbolically dismantled.
The attorneys asked the judge to order state officials to give them six months’ notice if the state again tries to put inmates to death, so they can again consider a legal challenge.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Madera County Wildfire Prompts Evacuation Warnings, Road Closures

DON'T MISS

Sanger Police Seek Public’s Help to Find Missing Teen

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Everyone Should Immediately Evacuate Tehran

DON'T MISS

Inside Trump’s Extraordinary Turnaround on Immigration Raids

DON'T MISS

Trump Approval Steady at 42%, Support Weakens for His Immigration Policy, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

DON'T MISS

Person Rescued from Fresno Canal, Third Incident in Recent Days

DON'T MISS

Arias Dodges Questions About His False Fresno ICE Raid Claim

DON'T MISS

Iranian State TV Halts Live Broadcast After Israeli Strike

DON'T MISS

Global Markets Recover on Iran Ceasefire Reports, Central Banks in Focus

DON'T MISS

Madera Man Sentenced to Over 21 Years for Fentanyl, Meth Trafficking

UP NEXT

Gov. Newsom Lambasts Trump for Giving Immigrants’ Health Data to Deportation Officials

UP NEXT

‘We Will Kill You Dead’: Florida Sheriff’s Stark Warning to Demonstrators

UP NEXT

US Marines Carry out First Known Detention of Civilian in Los Angeles, Video Shows

UP NEXT

Here’s What to Expect at the Army’s 250th Anniversary Parade on Trump’s Birthday

UP NEXT

California Opens Investigation Into State Farm

UP NEXT

California Police Are Illegally Sharing License Plate Data With ICE and Border Patrol

UP NEXT

Trump Can Keep National Guard Deployed to Los Angeles for Now, Appeals Court Rules

UP NEXT

Judge Temporarily Bars Trump From Deploying National Guard Troops in Los Angeles

UP NEXT

US House Passes Trump Cuts of $9.4 Billion for Foreign Aid, Broadcasting

UP NEXT

Tulare County Inmate Found Unresponsive in Cell, Autopsy Pending

Inside Trump’s Extraordinary Turnaround on Immigration Raids

3 hours ago

Trump Approval Steady at 42%, Support Weakens for His Immigration Policy, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

3 hours ago

Person Rescued from Fresno Canal, Third Incident in Recent Days

3 hours ago

Arias Dodges Questions About His False Fresno ICE Raid Claim

3 hours ago

Iranian State TV Halts Live Broadcast After Israeli Strike

5 hours ago

Global Markets Recover on Iran Ceasefire Reports, Central Banks in Focus

5 hours ago

Madera Man Sentenced to Over 21 Years for Fentanyl, Meth Trafficking

6 hours ago

Touring a Tunnel That Leads Underneath a Hospital in Southern Gaza

6 hours ago

Suspect in Minnesota Lawmaker Killing Visited Other Legislators’ Homes, Prosecutors Say

6 hours ago

Spyware From US-Backed Israeli Firm Targeted European Journalists, Report Finds

6 hours ago

Madera County Wildfire Prompts Evacuation Warnings, Road Closures

A wildfire burning near Raymond Road and Avenue 16 in Madera County has prompted evacuation warnings and road closures, authorities said Mon...

1 hour ago

A wildfire near Raymond Road and Avenue 16 in Madera County has prompted evacuation warnings and road closures as officials urge residents to prepare to leave if threatened on Monday, June 16, 2025. (Madera County SO)
1 hour ago

Madera County Wildfire Prompts Evacuation Warnings, Road Closures

Sanger police are searching for Kaylani Thompson, 17, who went missing Saturday, June 14, 2025, after leaving her home and was last seen getting into a white sedan. (Sanger PD)
2 hours ago

Sanger Police Seek Public’s Help to Find Missing Teen

A view of the cityscape in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 16, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
2 hours ago

Trump Says Everyone Should Immediately Evacuate Tehran

3 hours ago

Inside Trump’s Extraordinary Turnaround on Immigration Raids

President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
3 hours ago

Trump Approval Steady at 42%, Support Weakens for His Immigration Policy, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

A person was rescued from a Fresno canal Monday, June 16, 2025, near Dakota and Ninth Street, marking the third such incident in recent days, officials said. (Fresno FD)
3 hours ago

Person Rescued from Fresno Canal, Third Incident in Recent Days

3 hours ago

Arias Dodges Questions About His False Fresno ICE Raid Claim

5 hours ago

Iranian State TV Halts Live Broadcast After Israeli Strike

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend