Sentencing
Later that summer Charles Stevens had his sentencing hearing before Judge McGuinnis. I was on vacation at the time and couldn't find anything about it in the local papers, so I called the prosecutor's office to get the news. Our recommendation had been upheld and Charlie was shipped off to San Quentin's Death Row.
Mr. Burr had told us at our post-trial meeting that Stevens would have appeals for the next few years and that the soonest we might see his name pop up on the execution list would be seven years. That was April of 1993. This is being written on October 12, 2010, and Charles Stevens is still awaiting his turn on the gurney. California declared a moratorium on executions while the lethal injection procedure was changed to make it more humane. That has always puzzled me, but the courts know best, I guess. Humane executions.
In the years since I sat on that jury my opinion on the efficacy of the death penalty has changed. I have researched its application to persons of lower economic status and minorities. I have read enough about prosecutorial misconduct in some cases to change my mind. The Innocence Project has helped to get 17 people off Death Row with DNA evidence. I shudder to think about the innocent people put to death before this organization came to be.
Yes, some folks, like our friend Charlie, are caught stone cold guilty. If we put them in a hole and feed them what little it takes to stay alive until they finally shuffle off, it will cost less than a full capital trial and execution. What then is left? Revenge. And what does that change? Does it truly provide "closure"? How? Many family members have come out against the death penalty, preferring to know that the individual will instead have a lifetime to contemplate how fucked up his or her life will be right to the end. The debate goes on.
One thing rises to the top for me: Innocent people have been executed. As of this writing there is a news story about Cameron Willingham, a man from Texas who was executed based on faulty science. What if that person was your brother, son, father?
Appeal
On June 4, 2007, the California Supreme Court heard Stevens' appeal of his conviction. He challenged many aspects of the trial, from the exclusion of some African American jurors to the murder of Leslie Noyer. It can all be found here.
Richard Clark
Within a month of the end of the trial I read in the paper that Clark had accepted a deal and copped to voluntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to 12 years and has served his time. I still wonder about just what was true in that jumble of lies. Were we who wanted to acquit just a bunch of suckers? The fact that Charlie is going to waste away in prison eases that in my mind. The real monster is in jail now, forever.
In the News
One day I was out walking the dogs when my cell phone rang. It was a reporter from the Oakland Tribune who wanted to get my story about the trial. Here's the link to that article.
After all that, I never wanted to participate in another trial. I was called to jury duty a couple of years later and wouldn't you know, it was a Brink's Armored Car robbery where a guard was shot and killed. When I told them I felt I'd already done my duty with the Stevens trial, they agreed and cut me loose.
What did I learn from all this? The guy was a psycho who got off on killing people. We put him away. End of story. I became a fan of law & order reality shows: Cops, Forensic Files, First 48 and the like. It never gets old seeing bad guys, mostly stupid, greedy people, get popped by the white hats. No matter what problems I've had with authority, a respect the hell out of the thin blue line and the people who help them put thugs away.
Let's start in on Current Events real soon!
