Schwarzenegger delays California's first execution in nearly five years [Updated]

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an order Monday delaying the execution of a convicted rapist and murderer by one day, postponing what would be the first death sentence carried out in California in nearly five years.

Schwarzenegger cited procedural reasons for the temporary reprieve, saying that an appeals court decision allowing the execution to be carried out would not take effect until Thursday, a day after the execution was previously scheduled.

The reprieve ends at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.

[Updated, 4:40 p.m.: Albert Greenwood Brown Jr.’s execution has now been scheduled for 9 p.m. Thursday.

Schwarzenegger allowed the delay so that Brown could exhaust his final appeals, said governor's spokeswoman Rachel Arrezola. She said the governor has yet to make a decision on Brown's request for clemency.]

Brown's lawyers have argued that his execution should not be allowed to go forward until a federal judge has thoroughly reviewed the state’s new procedures for carrying out lethal injections.

Brown was convicted in 1982 of raping and strangling a 15-year-old girl who went missing on her way to school.

-- Carol J. Williams

Comments

[patilee]

Arnie should call the victims mother and explain his actions.

[couplewords]

What's the total expense after 30 years? Are they still going to wipe the injection site with alcohol?

[Geoff]

Regardless of my opinion about the death penalty- how can the Governor spend money right now without a budget?! As far as I know, executing someone costs a lot of money and he has yet to sign a budget to spend anything right now...let's get our priorities straight Sacramento- pass a budget first and then spend it on whatever you planned for.

[All Hallows Eve]

OH GIVE ME A BREAK!

ENOUGH OF CARING FOR THIS LOSER!

[TrueFreedom]

Throw the switch already.

[shiloh2000]

"Arnie should call the victims mother and explain his actions."

Why in heck should he do that? It's clearly a legal procedures issue. If it's going to be done, it should be done correctly.

[robin hendon]

Hey Arnold,you had a chance to do something right,you blew it as usual.

[Brian C.]

This nothing of a human being has had 30 years to appeal and our great governor gives him an extra day to hopefully find a judge to keep him alive. Rape and strangulation of a 15 year old girl allows you to have 30 years of appeals? A bullet in the back of the head will do the job quick and easy. Line all 700 plus death row inmates in a row and pull the trigger on all of them. Our tax dollars have been stolen from us for decades to make sure these animals are taken care of. Enough of this. Kill them all and allow final justice for all the victims, their families and their friends who suffer every day because of these monsters.

[Rocco]

I suppose if you are the guy waiting to be executed, this would qualify as BREAKING NEWs that called for big red letters splashed all over the LA Times homepage.

For the rest of us, not so much.

[Dave Wyman]

"An eye-for-an-eye, a tooth-for-a-tooth." The death penalty is as wrong as this Bronze Age shibboleth.

That a majority of people in California still favor the death penalty should surprise no one. It's these same people who believe they can communicate with a 2,000 year-old zombie, in order to lift a personal curse on them, a curse created by the first woman, who was tricked into eating a piece of magic fruit by a snake.

For anyone brainwashed enough to swallow that myth, it's easy to see why the death penalty is still on their plate.

[Pete the Fed]

Here is another example of justice delayed equals justice denied. This guy should have been executed 29 years ago. Unless and until the victim can be "unraped" and "unmurdered" and the taunting phone call this criminal made to the victims family before her body was found, we need to stop delaying justice.

[billie]

I've been laid off forever. I'll take this fool out for half the price. Infact, I'll take care of all of california's executions for half the price. Let's draw up the contract. Do I get the job?

[SwedieP]

the only problem I have with this is we waited for 30 years???

[curtis takahashi]

wasting time get it over with the state is the red let him suffer his victim did feed him to the shARKS

[Babs]

The parents of the girl that he raped and murdered have waited 30 years for this slime to be executed... Of course let's wait one more day in order that the murderer/rapist have every consideration...What a farce!!

[ELA DAVE]

1 bullet between his eyes is cheap and should be the protocal. We're so ridiculous when it comes to killing a murderer. (for you libs that's not the same as murdering a murderer or killing a killer). Think about it over dinner you big dummy.

[O.J. B Innosunt]

Get rid of the appeals process (until I need it).

[Ronald Baldus]

Isnt 28 years long enough? The death penalty in Calif . is a joke. Most of the death row inmates will die of old age before they ever get it.

[Cosmo Kramer]

This is pathetic. If ever there was a poster child for the death penalty, this scum Brown is it. He should have been put away A LONG time ago!!

A jury sentenced this monster to death over 30 years ago. Twice as long as his victim lived. I agree, Arnold should be made to call the mother of the victim and explain his actions.

Then, the mother of the victim should be invited up and allowed to taunt, harass and inflict great bodily pain or do what ever she sees fit to this monster until he is dead.

[Eric Thirteen]

Doesn't matter who does it, killing is wrong.

[The Grim Reaper]

How about a bullet in the back of the head. How much does that cost and how much suffering does the prisoners will feel?

[David]

Come on Arnold--sack-up!

[commonsense]

Can we take this guy out already?

[ralphm]

@Geoff. What kind of nonsense financial twilight zone are you living in. Everyone except you knows the reason for the high cost of execution is the endless reviews mandated by ill informed electorates and meaningless excuses defense lawyers keep throwing against the wall. To keep the cockroaches who should arleady have been dead and forgotten living in relative comfort on death row and the legal shenanigans to delay that is what creates the exhorbitant cost of killing these sadistic murderers. The execution itself is a pittance against letting them live one more day. Once this subhuman garbage is removed, the expense turns to zero.

[steve]

Arnold is worse than Davis