As California law­mak­ers con­sid­er leg­is­la­tion that would put exe­cu­tions on hold for two years while a 13-mem­ber com­mis­sion reviews the prob­lem of wrong­ful con­vic­tions in the state, a group of cur­rent and for­mer pros­e­cu­tors have sent mem­bers of the state Assembly a let­ter urg­ing pas­sage of the mea­sure. ​“The exe­cu­tion of an inno­cent per­son is unac­cept­able, and it is imper­a­tive that California takes every pre­cau­tion that it nev­er hap­pens. This is not just a mat­ter of jus­tice for these indi­vid­u­als. It is a mat­ter of pub­lic safe­ty…. If an inno­cent per­son is con­vict­ed, that means that the true per­pe­tra­tor may well still be free to com­mit more crimes,” the pros­e­cu­tors wrote.

Among the pro­s­ec­tors sign­ing the let­ter were Donald Heller, who authored the state’s 1978 death penal­ty statute, and Ira Reiner, whose office sent dozens of peo­ple to death row when he was Los Angeles County’s dis­trict attor­ney from 1984 to 1992. Imperial County deputy dis­trict attor­ney John Willis, San Francisco County sher­iff Michael Hennessy, and for­mer California Supreme Court Justice Joseph Grodin also signed the letter. 

Heller not­ed that the California death penal­ty law ​“was writ­ten to pro­vide a fair method.” He added, ​“In prac­tice it has not worked out that way. … There are too many vari­ables law can’t con­trol.” Among Heller’s chief con­cerns is the qual­i­ty of rep­re­sen­ta­tion a cap­i­tal defen­dant receives. Reiner stat­ed, ​“I don’t see any appro­pri­ate argu­ment against a brief mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions while the death penal­ty process in California is exam­ined very care­ful­ly by seri­ous peo­ple. If the state is going to have the moral author­i­ty to take a life, it has to be done when there are no ques­tions about the fair­ness of the tri­al.”

California’s Assembly is cur­rent­ly con­sid­er­ing the mora­to­ri­um leg­is­la­tion sup­port­ed by the pros­e­cu­tors. Last year, the state’s law­mak­ers passed leg­is­la­tion to cre­ate the 13-mem­ber California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, a group that includes both sup­port­ers and oppo­nents of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment.

(Los Angeles Times, January 10, 2006) See New Voices, Innocence and Recent Legislative Activity.

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