--- title: California description: 'Overview California has the largest number of individuals under a death sentence in the United States. New death sentences have become increasingly rare…' canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/state-by-state/california' section: statePages date: '2017-10-12T13:52:00-04:00' updated: '2026-10-02T19:31:26-04:00' source: 'Death Penalty Information Center' --- **Overview** California has the largest number of individuals under a death sentence in the United States. New death sentences have become increasingly rare in the state, with five new sentences in 2025, down from 42 in 1999. Death sentences in California are largely concentrated in a few counties: as of the end of 2025, 60% of new death sentences came from five counties (Alameda, Los Angeles, [Orange](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/orange-county-prosecutors-banned-from-death-penalty-case-for-systemic-pattern-of-misconduct), Riverside, and San Bernardino). Los Angeles County alone is responsible for 29% of new death sentences imposed from 1972 to 2025. California is one of four states (along with Arizona, Nevada, and Kentucky), [that allow for a retrial of the penalty phase of a capital trial](https://california.public.law/codes/penal_code_section_190.4) if the jury is unable to unanimously reach a sentencing decision. California has executed 13 people since 1976, the last on January 17, 2006, of [Clarence Ray Allen](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/twenty-years-since-last-execution-california-remains-under-execution-moratorium-as-advocates-push-for-mass-clemency-grant). On March 13, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an [executive order](https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/3.13.19-EO-N-09-19.pdf) declaring a moratorium on executions, calling California’s death penalty system “unfair, unjust, wasteful,” and “protracted.” In that same executive order, Governor Newsom repealed the state’s lethal injection protocol and closed the execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison. In 2022, he [ordered the dismantlement of California’s death row](https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=4e52644a3b60afc96da9a8d297510e6521dbaf44fd8fbc2d589a8f1c92be3450JmltdHM9MTc4Mjc3NzYwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=08247b59-d819-6cfa-3fd4-6e70d9b46d91&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly9kZWF0aHBlbmFsdHlpbmZvLm9yZy9jYWxpZm9ybmlhLWdvdmVybm9yLWdhdmluLW5ld3NvbS1vcmRlcnMtZGlzbWFudGxpbmctb2YtY2FsaWZvcm5pYXMtZGVhdGgtcm93&ntb=1) and the relocation of its population to other state prisons. At [22 special circumstances](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-and-research/background/crimes-punishable-by-death/aggravating-factors-by-state), California has the highest number of aggravating circumstances that make crimes death-eligible. No death-sentenced person in the modern death penalty era has been granted clemency in California. The last governor to grant clemency to a death-sentenced prisoner was Governor Ronald Reagan, who commuted Calvin Thomas’ sentence to life imprisonment in 1967. California’s death penalty has a documented history of both racial and religious discrimination. Court documents and other evidence disclosed in 2024 confirm that from the 1980s through at least the late 2000s, [Alameda County](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/focus-on-race-alameda-county-resentencings-illustrate-long-history-of-excluding-jurors-of-color-from-the-jury-box) prosecutors categorized jurors by race and religion as a means of determining who they would exclude from jury service in capital cases. As of 2025, 68 percent of [people under a death sentence](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/death-row/overview/demographics) in the state were defendants of color—in Los Angelos County, the figure reached 75 percent. Death sentences in California are also concentrated by race and age. Between 2005 and 2025, [nine out of ten](https://files.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/pdf/Immature-Minds.pdf) death sentences given to 18- to 20-year-olds were imposed on people of color. In 2020, Governor Newsom signed [The Racial Justice Act for All](https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB2542/id/2211006?__cf_chl_f_tk=L_E4JkTBC3hJCMAz6IIIE6LwKDQ.NOsGMKO0j2MJbJs-1782848136-1.0.1.1-KwhLCIy_6aegAb1OqdoZes2uDHJtH2KwC1355RsUk60) (RJA) and into law, which provides a process for death-sentenced prisoners to receive relief from convictions or death sentences obtained “on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin.” The RJA [was made retroactive](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/california-governor-signs-into-law-bill-expanding-racial-justice-act-to-prisoners-already-on-death-row) in 2022 and [was amended again in 2025](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/governor-newsom-signs-major-amendments-to-californias-racial-justice-act-into-law) to clarify the minimum threshold a defendant must meet to bring a claim, expand eligibility for appointed counsel for indigent death-sentenced prisoners, make it easier for prisoners to obtain early discovery, and require courts to provide a remedy when a violation is found. 68 Percentage of death-sentenced people who are people of color (as of 12/2025). 75 Percentage of Los Angeles County death sentences imposed on people of color (as of 12/2025). Zero Number of clemencies granted for death-sentenced people since 1976. 90 Percentage of death sentences given to 18- to 20-year-old people of color (2005-2025). ![New California Death Sentences by County [2000-2025] (Choropleth map)](https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Xu4nA/full.png) ![California Death Sentences by Year [1972-2025] (Line chart)](https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Fwx67/full.png) - Overview - February 18, 1972 - June 29, 1972 - 1977 - 1983 - 1992 - 1994 - 2000 - 2012 - 2016 - 2017 - March 13, 2019 - 2020 - 2020 - 2022 - 2022 - 2022 - 2025 California’s History with the Death Penalty Overview **This timeline details some of California's most consequential moments with the death penalty.** **Swipe to learn more.** California’s History with the Death Penalty February 18, 1972 The California Supreme Court, in *People v. Anderson*, rules the Death Penalty unconstitutional on 8th Amendment grounds. California’s History with the Death Penalty June 29, 1972 The U.S. Supreme Court, in *Furman v. Georgia*, invalidates 40 state death penalty statutes, including California’s. California’s History with the Death Penalty 1977 The California Legislature reinstates the death penalty, overriding Governor Jerry Brown’s veto. California’s History with the Death Penalty 1983 The U.S. Supreme Court, in [***California v. Ramos***](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/463/992/#tab-opinion-1955255), upholds a California Supreme Court ruling allowing a jury instruction during the penalty phase of a capital trial to include consideration of the Governor's power to commute a life sentence without possibility of parole. California’s History with the Death Penalty 1992 The U.S. Supreme Court, in [***Medina v. California***](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/505/437/#tab-opinion-1959080), upholds as consistent with the U.S. Constitution’s Due Process Clause California’s legal requirement that a capital defendant claiming incompetence to stand trial must bear the burden of proving so by a preponderance of the evidence. California’s History with the Death Penalty 1994 The U.S. Supreme Court, in [***Tuilaepa v. California***](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/512/967/#tab-opinion-1959595), upholds as not unconstitutionally vague California’s special circumstance requiring the sentencer to consider the "presence or absence of criminal activity \[involving\] the use or attempted use of force or violence or the express or implied threat to use force or violence," and the state’s special circumstance requiring “the sentencer to consider the defendant's age at the time of the crime.” California’s History with the Death Penalty 2000 Two voter initiatives add another three special circumstances to California’s death penalty statute, bringing the total to 22. California’s History with the Death Penalty 2012 Proposition 34, which would have repealed the death penalty in California and replaced it with life in prison, fails after garnering support from 48% of voters. California’s History with the Death Penalty 2016 California voters face two death penalty-related ballot initiatives simultaneously. Proposition 62, which would have replaced the death penalty with a strict life sentence in prison, fails, garnering support from 46% of voters. Proposition 66, which retains the death penalty and expedites state capital appeals, passes with the support of 51% of voters. California’s History with the Death Penalty 2017 In [***Briggs v. Brown***](https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/2017/s238309.html?__cf_chl_f_tk=jV6GmgPe4TVvDclJ1b3A6GVuvDvMr52mPS4TRSIjpDM-1782935906-1.0.1.1-X54PvSATeuDHmnNK06L2WrQSPLDW5dhfd9.L1xuhAd8), the California Supreme Court upholds Proposition 66 but severely limits the scope of its core provisions expediting capital appeals. The majority rule that the measure’s flagship provision—a five-year deadline on appeals by condemned prisoners—was “directive, rather than mandatory”; that “courts must make individualized decisions based on the circumstances of each case”; and that “prisoners may seek to challenge \[the time limitations and limitation on the claims they are permitted to raise\] in the context of their individual cases.” California’s History with the Death Penalty March 13, 2019 Governor Gavin Newsom signs an [**executive order**](https://www.gov.ca.gov/2019/03/13/governor-gavin-newsom-orders-a-halt-to-the-death-penalty-in-california/) placing a moratorium on the death penalty, stating, “The intentional killing of another person is wrong and as Governor, I will not oversee the execution of any individual.” Governor Newsom also calls California’s death penalty system “a failure,” and discriminatory against “defendants who are mentally ill, black and brown, or can’t afford expensive legal representation.” At the time, there were 737 prisoners on California’s death row. In that same executive order, Governor Newsom repeals the state’s lethal injection protocol and closes the execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison. California’s History with the Death Penalty 2020 COVID-19 kills twelve [**California death-sentenced**](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/coronavirus-prison-fatalities-surpass-two-decades-of-executions-covid-19-has-killed-more-california-death-row-prisoners-than-the-state-has-executed-in-27-years) prisoners. California’s History with the Death Penalty 2020 [**Governor Gavin Newsom**](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/california-governor-signs-into-law-bill-expanding-racial-justice-act-to-prisoners-already-on-death-row#:~:text=The%20expanded%20Racial%20Justice%20Act,of%20the%20California%20legislation%20session.) signs [**The Racial Justice Act for All**](https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB2542/id/2211006?__cf_chl_f_tk=L_E4JkTBC3hJCMAz6IIIE6LwKDQ.NOsGMKO0j2MJbJs-1782848136-1.0.1.1-KwhLCIy_6aegAb1OqdoZes2uDHJtH2KwC1355RsUk60) into law (RJA), providing a process for death-sentenced prisoners to apply for relief from convictions or death sentences obtained “on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin.” California’s History with the Death Penalty 2022 Governor Newsom signs amendments to the RJA into law, [**making its application retroactive**](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/california-governor-signs-into-law-bill-expanding-racial-justice-act-to-prisoners-already-on-death-row). California’s History with the Death Penalty 2022 Governor Gavin Newsom signs [**SB2657**](https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB2657/id/2609253?__cf_chl_f_tk=P03hO_fy0pcaTtVet8I7r.btXY2aEqwJ9wOrjwjwk9M-1783431446-1.0.1.1-Ef1hw3y69oYxQQD9GxFQmjKRd1OKfhy4Mx3z0rVJ9jM) into law, enabling courts to vacate the death sentences of prisoners who are permanently mentally incompetent. California’s History with the Death Penalty 2022 Governor Gavin Newsom [**orders the dismantlement of California’s death row**](https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=4e52644a3b60afc96da9a8d297510e6521dbaf44fd8fbc2d589a8f1c92be3450JmltdHM9MTc4Mjc3NzYwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=08247b59-d819-6cfa-3fd4-6e70d9b46d91&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly9kZWF0aHBlbmFsdHlpbmZvLm9yZy9jYWxpZm9ybmlhLWdvdmVybm9yLWdhdmluLW5ld3NvbS1vcmRlcnMtZGlzbWFudGxpbmctb2YtY2FsaWZvcm5pYXMtZGVhdGgtcm93&ntb=1) and the relocation of its population to other state prisons. California’s History with the Death Penalty 2025 Governor Gavin Newsom [**signs further amendments**](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/governor-newsom-signs-major-amendments-to-californias-racial-justice-act-into-law) to the RJA into law to strengthen the initial legislation. The amendments clarify the minimum threshold a defendant must meet to bring a claim, expand eligibility for appointed counsel for indigent death-sentenced prisoners, make it easier for prisoners to obtain early discovery, and require courts to provide a remedy when a violation is found. - Overview - Calvin Thomas – Sentence Commuted 1967 - Thomas Thompson – Executed 1998 - Manuel Babbit – Executed 1999 - Patrick Croy – Exonerated 2005 - Stanley Williams – Executed 2005 - Vincente Benavides – Exonerated 2018 - Barry Williams – Exonerated 2021 - Larry Roberts – Exonerated in 2024 Notable Cases Overview Swipe to see some of California’s most notable death penalty cases. Notable Cases Calvin Thomas – Sentence Commuted 1967 In 1967, Governor Ronald Reagan commuted **Calvin Thomas**’ sentence from death to life imprisonment after it was discovered that Mr. Thomas suffered from organic brain damage. Mr. Thomas had been convicted of murdering a three-year-old boy. Mr. Thomas’s brain damage was only discovered after he was convicted and sentenced to death. Notable Cases Thomas Thompson – Executed 1998 **Thomas Thompson** was executed in 1998 for the 1981 rape and murder of Ginger Fleischli despite substantial evidence that he was innocent and that someone else had committed the murder. The victim’s ex-boyfriend, David Leitch, was convicted of second-degree murder in connection to the crime. Evidence found near the victim and in the trunk of a car linked the crime to Mr. Leitch, who had a history of violence and had threatened the victim only two weeks before her death. In separate trials for each man, the prosecutor gave conflicting versions of events, claiming Mr. Thompson was alone with the victim in his trial, and that Mr. Leitch and Mr. Thompson were both present during Mr. Leitch’s trial. Mr. Thompson’s death sentence was overturned twice on appeals, once only two days before his initial execution date in August 1997, but the reversals were later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Thompson was executed on July 14, 1998. In 2015, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt [**wrote**](https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol113/iss7/3/) that Mr. Thompson was “likely innocent” of the rape and murder for which he was sentenced to death. Notable Cases Manuel Babbit – Executed 1999 **Manuel Babbitt** was a Vietnam War Veteran who was executed in 1999 for the murder of an elderly Sacramento woman. Mr. Babbitt served two combat tours in Vietnam and, while on death row, received the Purple Heart for wounds he received during the Battle of Khe Sanh. After the war, Mr. Babbitt was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and paranoid schizophrenia. He soon became homeless. In 1980, he broke into the home of 78-year-old Leah Schendel, assaulted her and stole some food as well as some of her belongings. Ms. Schendel died of a heart attack. Mr. Babbit laid a mattress over her and toe tagged her, saying later that he was experiencing a Vietnam War flashback at that moment. During the sentencing phase of the trial, Mr. Babbitt’s attorney did not introduce any evidence of his client’s mental illness to the jury, prompting him to later say that he “failed completely” during this crucial phase of the trial. [**Before his execution**,](https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/05/us/vietnam-veteran-executed-for-1980-murder.html) Mr. Babbitt refused his last meal and asked for the allotted money to be donated to a homeless Vietnam Veteran. Prison officials refused his request. Notable Cases Patrick Croy – Exonerated 2005 **Patrick ‘Hooty’ Croy** was exonerated on March 20, 2005, after spending 19 years in prison, seven of them on death row. He was convicted of the 1978 killing of City of Yreka police officer Jesse ‘Bo’ Hittson during a shootout between police and five people, including Mr. Croy, who were suspected of robbing a nearby liquor store. Mr. Croy was convicted in 1979 and sentenced to death. In 1985, the California Supreme Court overturned Mr. Croy’s convictions for murder, robbery, and attempted murder. During his retrial in 1990, he testified that he had acted in self-defense after Officer Hittson shot him twice in the back—Mr. Croy believed he would not have the option to surrender because of prejudice against Native Americans. He was acquitted of all capital charges. In 2005, a federal district court judge vacated the remaining charges. Siskiyou County prosecutors did not appeal that decision and elected not to retry him, completing Mr. Croy’s exoneration. Notable Cases Stanley Williams – Executed 2005 In the early 1970s, **Stanley Williams** co-founded the Crips, a street gang from Los Angeles. Mr. Williams was sentenced to death in 1981 for the murders of four people during a robbery spree in 1979. While he admitted he had committed many brutal acts while he was involved in the Crips, Mr. Williams always maintained his innocence regarding the murders for which he was sentenced to death. In 1996, Mr. Williams co-authored “Gangs and Wanting to Belong,” the first in a series of anti-gang children’s books. He later went on to write “Life in Prison” and “Blue Rage, Black Redemption.” For his anti-gang youth outreach, Mr. Williams was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize a total of six times. Many notable leaders, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Rigoberta Menchu, petitioned then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to spare Mr. William’s life. He was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison on December 13, 2005. Notable Cases Vincente Benavides – Exonerated 2018 **Vicente Benavides**, [**was exonerated on April 19, 2018**](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/vicente-benavides-sentenced-to-death-by-false-forensics-to-be-freed-after-26-years-on-death-row), after being wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in 1993 on charges that he had raped, sodomized, and murdered his girlfriend’s 21-month-old daughter, Consuelo Verdugo. The formal dismissal of all charges against Mr. Benavides, a Mexican national, came two days after Kern County District Attorney Lisa Green said her office would not be seeking a retrial. The California Supreme Court granted the former farmworker a new trial in March 2018, calling his convictions for sexually assaulting and murdering Consuelo a product of “extensive,” “pervasive,” “impactful,” and “false” forensic testimony. Consuelo, the court said, had never been sexually assaulted and may actually have died from being hit by a car. During oral argument, Associate California Supreme Court Justice Carol Corrigan—a former prosecutor—described the forensic testimony as “among the most hair-raising false evidence that I’ve encountered in all the time that I’ve been looking at criminal cases.” Notable Cases Barry Williams – Exonerated 2021 On January 15, 2021, **Barry Williams** was [**exonerated**](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/policy/innocence/description-of-innocence-cases) of all charges in connection with his 1986 conviction and death sentence for an alleged gang-related murder in Los Angeles. His conviction rested on the false testimony— later recanted—of two prison informants, both of whom later admitted to acting under pressure from prosecutors. During federal habeas proceedings, Mr. Williams’ lawyers presented evidence that prosecutors had withheld significant exculpatory evidence. On March 29, 2016, a federal district court overturned Mr. Williams’ conviction, citing prosecutorial misconduct. The court found that the prosecution had presented perjured testimony in a pretrial hearing and that prosecutors knew or should have known the testimony had been false. On January 15, 2021, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office dismissed the capital case against Mr. Williams, exonerating him of all charges. As of 2025, he remains incarcerated on an unrelated non-capital murder conviction. Notable Cases Larry Roberts – Exonerated in 2024 In 2024, **Larry Roberts** became the [**200th person**](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/larry-roberts-becomes-the-200th-person-exonerated-from-death-row) exonerated from U.S. death row. He was sentenced to death in 1983 for the murders of fellow prisoner Charles Gardner and prison officer Albert Patch at the California Medical Facility, based largely on the eyewitness testimony of fellow prisoners. Mr. Roberts’ co-defendant Larry Menefield, who was likewise found guilty of the murders in a joint trial, was sentenced to life without parole. In 1992, the California Supreme Court reversed Mr. Roberts’ conviction for the murder of Mr. Patch, as well as the multiple-murder special-circumstance findings. Years later, one of the state’s eyewitnesses admitted to perjury, explaining that he was threatened by investigators at the time of the incident. Information regarding the competency of another eyewitness, who had been declared insane by three court-appointed psychiatrists, was also discovered to have been withheld from the defense. After a U.S. District Court ordered a new trial for Mr. Roberts, the California Attorney General said that a “retrial is not reasonably feasible” due to a lack of available witnesses, many of whom were deceased or elderly. On June 29, 2024, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California vacated his conviction and death sentence. **Resources** ------------- - [Death Penalty Focus](https://deathpenalty.org/) - [ACLU of Northern California – Death Penalty Project](https://www.aclunorcal.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/) - [California People of Faith Working Against the Death Penalty](https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaPeopleofFaith/) - [SAFE California](https://www.safecalifornia.org/) - [Department of Corrections](http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/) - [Prosecutors](https://www.cdaa.org/) - [Public defender's office](http://www.ospd.ca.gov/) - [Victims' services](https://oag.ca.gov/victimservices) - [California Cost Study 2011](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/california-cost-study-2011)