Political waiting game

Many content to leave death penalty system as is; others rally for changes

By STEVEN MAYER
Californian staff writer
e-mail: smayer@bakersfield.com

Felix Adamo / The Californian Cheryl Yarbrough at her son Chad Yarbrough’s grave in Arvin. Chad was shot to death in 1997. His killer, Juan Villa Ramirez, was sentenced to death July 20, 2001.

Yarbrough

Politicians have the power to "fix" the death penalty in California -- or at least oil its wheels.

But few appear willing to put their own political necks on the line to get changes implemented. And some say the system is working just fine as is.

"I'm biased," said state Sen. John Vasconcellos, a die-hard liberal and a longtime opponent of capital punishment. "The death penalty doesn't deter crime; it's about vengeance."

The Silicon Valley Democrat is the vice chairman of the Senate Public Safety Committee. Most legislation aimed at reforming capital punishment in California must first get past him and a number of other senators on the committee before it ever sees the light of day.

And that's not likely to happen if passage means Death Row prisoners could face execution sooner rather than later.

"I understand people who want vengeance," Vasconcellos said. "But it doesn't fit my moral code. Taking life doesn't suit me."

Cheryl Yarbrough sees the issue from a more personal point of view. Politics and ideology don't factor into her feelings about capital punishment.

Yarbrough's son, Chad Yarbrough, was abducted and shot to death near Arvin in 1997. The killer, Juan Villa Ramirez, was sentenced to death in July of this year.

For Yarbrough, Ramirez's death sentence was about moral justice.

But the prospect of waiting for that sentence to be carried out 15 or 20 years from now is almost unthinkable for the Bakersfield mother.

She recently received a booklet from the state that outlines the maze of appeals that are part and parcel of the death penalty process.

After the family repeatedly listened to details of the crime during four years of court hearings, the road ahead looks longer still. So many courtrooms, so many chances for the sentence to be overturned.

"You sit there, and you have to listen to this whole thing over and over again," Yarbrough said. "It's just sad. It's all going to come down to what's been said on some piece of paper, what lawyers say to an appellate court."

"It just goes on and on," she said.

No legislation, no action

Yarbrough

There's no shortage of verbal outrage being expressed by supporters of capital punishment in California.

But death penalty supporters can't blame Vasconcellos or other staunch opponents for blocking legislation that simply does not exist.

California's system of capital punishment hasn't been on lawmakers' to-do list for years. And that's not likely to change any time soon.

"Capital punishment is not on the front burner," said Assemblyman Dick Dickerson, a Republican from Redding. "With all the stories over the past couple of years raising questions about the death penalty in Illinois and other states, no one wants to be the legislator seen to be expediting executions."

State Sen. Bob Margett, R-Arcadia, sits on the Public Safety Committee with another Republican and four Democrats, including Vasconcellos.

The conservative lawmaker does not favor an acceleration of executions in California. He prefers the state's cautious approach, and if that means prisoners wait 20 or more years for their sentences to be carried out, so be it.

"I think the system is working," Margett said. "I'm very much a pro-life person ... life is to be valued, treasured and viewed as a fragile thing."

Although Margett says the citizens of California have the right to demand the death penalty for the state's worst criminals, he believes the prisoners on Death Row are already being punished. And he's attracted by the notion that some of those inmates might find a level of repentance or spiritual renewal before they die.

"I'm also of the opinion that we do have a maker," Margett said. "I am of the opinion that He will take us when He wants us."

Dickerson, a member of the Public Safety Committee in the Assembly, said he sees no value in multiple court appeals that seem never to end.

He is outraged by the status quo and said he would support time limits on state appeals -- or possibly other efforts to streamline the system.

Local politicians' view

Assemblyman Dean Florez also would like to see efforts to streamline the system. But the Shafter Democrat said it's not likely such legislation would get past committee members anytime soon.

Public safety committees in both the state Senate and Assembly are tied up by ideologues in both parties, Florez said, leaving little room for common-sense middle ground.

"The members of the committee are either very liberal or extremely conservative," Florez said. "Maybe we ought to be focusing on improving the process."

Florez, a death penalty supporter, said the blame for legislative inaction has to be laid primarily at the feet of Democrats, since they control the two committees.

"It's absolutely the liberals' fault," he said. "We need to get more middle-of-the-road folks on the public safety committees."

Florez said he considers himself one of those "middle-of-the-road" legislators who would like to achieve a balance between the legitimate protection of the rights of condemned prisoners and the right of the people of California to reasonably swift justice.

But Florez said he doesn't expect to be invited to sit on one of the safety committees at any time in the near future.

Assemblyman Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, also calls the situation unacceptable. But Ashburn places most of the blame on California's executive branch, especially Gov. Gray Davis, for what Ashburn views as the governor's lack of leadership on the issue.

When it is pointed out that Davis has only been in office for three years, and that his administration followed 16 years of Republican administrations headed by Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian, Ashburn is unmoved.

"I don't think anyone escapes a share of the blame," he said. "But the governor expressed his support for the death penalty before his election, as did Attorney General Bill Lockyer, yet neither have said a word about the issue in their nearly three years in office."

Lawmakers change, not system

Byron Tucker, a spokesman for Davis on death penalty and other criminal justice issues, insists Davis supports state law governing capital punishment.

"Gov. Davis inherited a death penalty infrastructure that was already in place," Tucker said. "The governor's support for the death penalty is unwavering. However, it is critical we make sure the proper procedures are followed before executions take place."

Hallye Jordan, a spokeswoman for Lockyer, said the attorney general has a well-established track record of writing legislation designed to unclog California's stopped-up system of capital appeals.

In fact, Lockyer was the author of two laws passed during the late 1990s that, among other things, raised state-paid fees for capital defense attorneys and authorized creation of the California Habeas Corpus Resource Center. The center represents some Death Row inmates and provides training for private attorneys in death penalty cases.

Though the new laws have not cleared the legal bottleneck, many credit the changes for keeping the problem from worsening.

Ashburn cited increasing attorneys' fees and creation of the habeas center as positive developments. But more needs to be done, he said.

"I'm willing to speculate that compensation (for appellate attorneys) needs to be adjusted further," Ashburn said.

Like Dickerson and Florez, Ashburn also advocates a fixed period of time for the exercise of appeals, a controversial idea opposed by the American Bar Association.

"A deadline in the courts is needed. We have the death sentence, but we do not have the death penalty," Ashburn said. "The only way the death penalty is real and effective is if the death sentence is carried out."

Opinions in the Legislature vary.

Many express outrage over how long it takes for inmates to travel through the system. But there are concerns as well, that California might find itself executing the innocent if arbitrary time limits are placed on the appeals process.

State Sen. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, agrees with critics that the system needs fixing, but at the same time, he urges caution.

"The facts clearly indicate the death penalty as a punishment is not working as it was intended to," Costa said. "Does that mean we should abrogate people's rights? I don't think so."

Costa has represented parts of Kern, Tulare, Kings and Fresno counties in the 16th District since 1994, after serving in the California Assembly for 16 years. He said California might well benefit from an examination of the systems of capital punishment practiced in other states.

But Costa also said serious questions about the fair application of the death penalty in Illinois and elsewhere must be kept in mind when considering reforms designed to streamline the appeals process.

No room for error

Illinois Gov. George Ryan -- a pro-death penalty Republican -- declared a moratorium on executions in that state last year until officials can determine why more Death Row inmates have been exonerated than executed since Illinois reinstated capital punishment in 1977.

"To compound the error by taking the life of someone who might not be guilty -- I don't believe anyone wants that," Costa said. "For me personally, under clear and obvious circumstances, the death penalty is a suitable punishment for certain crimes."

Nevertheless, the emotional baggage that accompanies debate over capital punishment will often serve to short-circuit efforts to find consensus, Costa said. That means legislative solutions are politically challenging at best and nearly impossible otherwise.

Vasconcellos, one of the most powerful leaders in the state Legislature, is now in his second term in the state Senate after serving 30 years in the Assembly. His views on capital punishment were shaped in part by his experience as a witness to an execution by lethal gas in the early 1960s. It left an indelible mark on his psyche that has never left him.

"It was a searing experience," he recalled. "Of all the things I've seen in my life, my godson's birth and this man's death were the most profound."

Vasconcellos said he understands the desire for vengeance by victims' families and others. But that is not the goal of the justice system.

"It's not supposed to be about vengeance -- or politics," he said.

Still, capital punishment has become a political litmus test among some who want to distinguish themselves from their opponents by appearing to be tougher on crime.

It's more than apparent that Vasconcellos feels no compulsion to follow the pro-death penalty tide of public opinion that began to dominate much of the California electorate in the 1980s and '90s. On the contrary, he makes it clear that he would oppose any measure that makes it easier to execute prisoners.

It's a moral imperative he says he simply cannot ignore.

Margett, the conservative Republican, said he and his wife returned from a trip to Africa a few weeks ago. He brought back a newspaper clipping that told the story of a young woman who was sentenced to be stoned to death for the crime of adultery.

"The story explained that the woman wouldn't be killed until her baby was old enough to stop nursing," he said.

"Our system isn't perfect, but I'm much more comfortable with where we are in our process."