Supreme Court denies California's petition to execute (Kevin Cooper)

AP via Press Enterprise ^ | February 9, 2004 | Associated Press

[calcowgirl]

10:06 PM PST on Monday, SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday night to overrule an appellate court's stay of execution for a convicted killer who pleaded that tests on the evidence would prove his innocence.

Acting unanimously, the justices denied a request by the state of California to vacate the ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said earlier Monday that justice demands the execution be delayed.

Justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg also said they would have stayed the execution based on a separate appeal from Kevin Cooper himself.

Cooper, who has maintained his innocence through 18 years of appeals, was convicted in the hacking deaths of four people in 1983 and was just hours away from a lethal injection when the courts ruled.

"No person should be executed if there is doubt about his or her guilt and an easily available test will determine guilt or innocence," wrote seven of the 11 judges on the appellate panel.

They ruled that a San Diego federal judge must reopen the case and order new tests on blond hair and a bloody shirt tests which Cooper says will exonerate him.

"The public cannot afford a mistake. Neither can Cooper," added Judges Barry Silverman and Johnnie Rawlinson in a separate opinion. They said the execution should be stayed, but only for as long as it takes to test the shirt for evidence of a preservative that would indicate that Cooper's blood was planted.

"Cooper is either guilty as sin or he was framed by the police. There is no middle ground," Silverman and Rawlinson wrote. "Since Cooper's guilt can be quickly and definitively determined by means of a simple test, there is no reason not to have it performed prior to his execution."

But judges Richard Tallman and Jay Bybee said Cooper had failed to demonstrate his innocence to the extent required under a 1996 law intended to expedite death penalty cases. "He has not met this burden," they wrote.

The 11 judge panel overturned an earlier 2-1 decision declining to reopen Cooper's case despite his claims of innocence, incomplete forensic testing and allegations that he was framed by law enforcement.

"What this means is that for the very first time, one court and one neutral fact-finder can hear all of the evidence that the jury was not allowed to hear," said Cooper's attorney, Lanny Davis.

"This suggests not only that Kevin Cooper can be found innocent once and for all, but that there may be three murderers out there who need to be found and prosecuted," Davis said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declined to grant clemency, saying evidence of Cooper's guilt was overwhelming. The California Supreme Court also said the state's first execution in two years could go forward.

Cooper wants DNA evidence linking him to the slayings tested for signs that it was planted at the crime scene, as well as DNA tests on hair found in one of the victims' hands, which has never undergone forensic testing.

"When the stakes are so high, when the evidence against Cooper is so weak, and when the newly discovered evidence of the state's malfeasance and misfeasance is so compelling, there is no reason to hurry and every reason to find out the truth," wrote James R. Browning, the dissenter on the three-judge panel.

Five of the jurors who convicted Cooper also called for a stay of execution so the hair and blood evidence can be tested.

But Silverman and Rawlinson said the nine-judge majority in Monday's ruling "fails to appreciate the powerful circumstantial evidence tying Cooper to these crimes," such as a footprint discovered at the crime scene as well as in a house where Cooper had been hiding.

Arguing against a stay, California Deputy Attorney General Holly Wilkens told the Supreme Court that Cooper shouldn't be able to reopen his case so close to his execution date.

"The order of the 9th Circuit constitutes an unwarranted intrusion on California's ability to carry out a lawful and final judgment that has been the subject of over 18 years of post-conviction appeals and collateral challenges," Wilkens wrote.

Cooper's appeals have won support from celebrities such as Denzel Washington and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

But prosecutors and family members of the victims were outraged.

Mary Ann and Bill Hughes, the parents of 11-year-old victim Christopher Hughes, learned of the stay Monday while traveling from their Chino Hills home to fly to San Francisco, a short drive from San Quentin State Prison.

"This is just another tactic," said Robert Olin, Mary Ann Hughes' brother.

The last execution in California was that of Stephen Anderson in 2002.

Cooper, 46, was convicted of the murders of Douglas and Peggy Ryen, both 41, their 10-year-old daughter, Jessica, and Christopher Hughes, her friend. They were stabbed and hacked repeatedly with a hatchet and buck knife. Joshua Ryen, then 8, survived a slit throat.

Cooper, a burglar and rapist who had escaped from prison at the time of the murders, claims the hair found in one of the victim's hands, if scientifically tested, would support his claims that a trio of murderers committed the savage attacks.

John Kochis, the San Bernardino prosecutor who tried Cooper, said the hair in Jessica Ryen's clenched hand was from her own head. However, DNA testing was not available in 1984, when authorities came to that conclusion.

The appeals court ruled Monday that Cooper must get a chance to refute evidence that only recently has come to light or was not disclosed at trial.

For example, authorities at the time said the bloody footprint could only have come from a prison-issued tennis shoe. But in a signed declaration, Midge Carroll, the former warden at the California Institute for Men, said he told investigators two decades ago that the prisoners' shoes were commonly sold at Sears and other retail stores.

Carroll said authorities never called him to the witness stand. The appeals court said Cooper's defense should have been given that information before trial.

The court also noted that Joshua Ryen, the only survivor, initially said three or four men committed the murders and, when he saw a picture of Cooper on television while in the hospital, said that Cooper was not the killer. Ryen later changed his story and has said he believes Cooper is in fact the killer.

The case is Cooper v. Woodford, 04-70578.

[calcowgirl]

No Execution today. The saga continues.

[goldstategop]

Thanks to the Nine Circus liberals.

[hattend]

"What this means is that for the very first time, one court and one neutral fact-finder can hear all of the evidence that the jury was not allowed to hear," said Cooper's attorney, Lanny Davis.

Figures, a Clintonian stooge.

[California74]

They ruled that a San Diego federal judge must reopen the case and order new tests on blond hair and a bloody shirt tests which Cooper says will exonerate him.

Prediction: The blonde hair will prove to be the victim's own and blood on the shirt will be Cooper's (or the victims'). Then we shall proceed with the execution as planned, just a few days late.

[calcowgirl]

Hundreds cheer outside death row at stay of execution
By Kim Curtis
ASSOCIATED PRESS
10:37 p.m. February 9, 2004

SAN QUENTIN – They chanted. They beat drums. They waved picket signs bearing the face of a black man who came very close Monday night to being put to death for the slayings of four people 20 years ago.

Hundreds gathered outside the gates of San Quentin State Prison to condemn the death penalty as unfair, biased and inhumane. And, in the end, they were heard.

When actor and death penalty opponent Mike Farrell announced to the crowd that the U.S. Supreme Court had refused to intervene, his words were met with thunderous applause.

"The state of California cannot execute Kevin Cooper," Farrell said. "Thank you for letting the governor know he was wrong."

Earlier in the week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to grant Cooper clemency, saying he was clearly guilty.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who met with Cooper on Death Row earlier in the day, thanked the crowd for such a strong showing.

"This is part of a struggle across a nation to remove a system with flaws," Jackson said. "With the help of some very good lawyers ... evidence emerged that the judge and jury never heard. ... I hope that we will in time find out who killed the family."

Cooper, 46, was convicted in the hacking deaths of four people in 1983 and was just hours away from being executed by lethal injection when the courts ruled.

"This case is everything that's wrong with the death penalty," said Michael Smith, a 24-year-old University of California, Berkeley student. "It's just so obvious that Kevin deserves a new trial. The death penalty is racist. It's biased against the poor."

Authorities in San Bernardino who prosecuted Cooper vehemently deny Cooper's claims that he was framed for the crime, and the California Attorney General's office is convinced that new tests will fail to cast any doubt on his guilt, a spokeswoman said Monday night.

Family members of the victims also are convinced Cooper was the killer, said Bill Hughes, whose son, Christopher, was among those slain. Hughes and his wife, Mary Ann, were inside the prison Monday night and couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

But he said lethal injection is justified. "I think it's justified. Particularly in this case, they were savage and brutal murders," Hughes said in a telephone interview late Sunday.

California Highway Patrol officers blocked traffic in both directions on Interstate 101 to allow about 200 protesters to cross the freeway. They met up with about 100 more at the prison gate, carrying signs that read: "Stop the Execution" and "No State Murder."

"The middle class doesn't have a voice anymore, so this is our voice," said Dennis Stefani, 62, of Danville, who said he postponed a fishing trip to protest. He said it's only right that all the evidence should be heard.

Robert English, 59, agreed.

"This time I think there was just an overwhelming need to have justice done," English said. "It seems pretty clear he's innocent."

[calcowgirl]

I hope you're right about the timing... somehow it sounds like he may be able to delay this more. FYI, the blood on the shirt was already proven to be his via DNA... but he alleges it was planted. So... he wants the shirt tested for the chemical they add to blood kept in vials... If the chemical is found on the shirt, he says he will be exonerated.

[onyx]

What a crock. Damn, I hate these people.

[CucamongaDan]

He should be dead now. What a travesty, why don't the protesters just dance on his victims graves. The attacks were of apalling savagery. He is an incredibly sick and evil person. Every minute past midnight that he lives is an insult to the memory of his victims, their families, and civilized society in general.

[onyx]

I am in 100% agreement with you. That damn murderous cretin has already lived on death row for 21 years. I mean, new evidence? Come on. There is no NEW evidence. He's as guilty as guilty gets and the blankety-blank democrat justices know it. They just don't believe in executions, so they shove written law right up our collective asses.

[kcvl]

Save Kevin Cooper

Above are photos taken on a recent visit of Kevin and members of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.

Kevin Cooper, 46, is due to be executed on Tuesday for using a hatchet, knife and ice pick to kill a couple, their 10-year-old daughter and her friend in 1983.

Kevin Cooper was convicted in 1985 of murdering four people as they slept in a Chino Hills home in 1983.

The events leading up to the murder began February 2, 1982, when he was released from a state prison in Pennsylvania. Following his release, Cooper was arrested and charged with burglary. Prior to his conviction, Cooper was committed to the Mayview State Hospital in Pennsylvania for treatment of a psychiatric disorder. He escaped from that institution on October 8, 1982. On the same date that he escaped from the hospital, Cooper is alleged to have burglarized a nearby home, kidnapped and raped a visitor to that home, and stolen the rape victim’s car.

On December 13, 1982, Cooper applied for and received a California Department of Motor Vehicles identification card using the name David Anthony Trautman.

On January 1, 1983, he committed a burglary in Los Angeles and was arrested. He used the alias David Anthony Trautman, and his true identity was not discovered. He was sentenced to four years in state prison on April 19, 1983 and was received by the California Department of Corrections (CDC) on April 29, 1983. He was transferred to the minimum-security facility at the California Institution for Men (CIM) in Chino on June 1, 1983.

On June 2, 1983, Cooper escaped from CIM. At the time, he was still listed as David A. Trautman.

Cooper made his way to the Chino Hills area and entered a house located on a horse-breeding farm. The house was empty, the breeding operations manager having moved out the previous day. Telephone records and testimony from two witnesses who said they received phone calls from Cooper placed him at the house. One of the witnesses testified that Cooper said he had walked away from the prison.

From the ranch house where Cooper was staying, it is possible to see the home of the Ryen family. On June 4, 1983, the Ryen family attended a barbecue at a friend’s house. With them was a friend of their son Joshua, Christopher Hughes. They all left the party at approximately 9:00 p.m. and returned to their home. The Hughes boy planned to spend the night.

Sometime that night, Cooper entered the Ryen home and killed Franklin Douglas Ryen, his wife, Peggy Ann Ryen, their daughter, Jessica, and Christopher Hughes. He had entered the home and killed them as they slept, using a hatchet and a knife. The Ryen’s son, Joshua, was struck in the head and severely wounded, but survived.

The following morning, Sunday June 5, 1983, the father of Christopher Hughes became concerned that his son had not returned home. Attempts were made to telephone the Ryen house, but the line was busy. Mr. Hughes drove to the Ryen house at about 11:00 a.m. and discovered the victims.

On June 9, 1983, Cooper was hired by a boat owner and was allowed to stay on the boat and perform work for his keep. The boat owner and his family left Ensenada on June 11, 1983 and sailed north. Cooper remained with the family until Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies arrested him on June 30, 1983. It was alleged that Cooper had raped a friend of the boat owner’s family. During this time, he had been using the name Angel Jackson.

Arresting officers made fingerprint comparisons and verified that Cooper was wanted in San Bernardino County for the murder of the Ryen family and Christopher Hughes.

Cooper’s trial was moved to San Diego County because of the possibility of prejudicial pre-trial publicity in San Bernardino County, where the offenses occurred.

He was convicted and, on May 15, 1985, was sentenced to death.

[kcvl]

Reporter Claims Evidence Against Cooper was Planted
As the date for the execution of convicted quadruple murderer Kevin Cooper draws near, a former reporter has come forward with what she claims is evidence proving the condemned man's innocence.

Kristina Rebelo, who worked as a reporter for the United Press International wire service, claims to have met a man who has firsthand knowledge that evidence was planted in the case. "He said to me 'Kevin Cooper did not kill that family' and I said 'yes he did, I was there, I saw the evidence,'" said Rebelo. "'Kevin Cooper killed that family' and he said 'no he didn't. We were told to plant evidence.'"

Cooper has long claimed that the crime was committed by others, and that evidence linking him to the crime scene was fabricated.

In addition to the revelations by Rebelo, other moves are taking place to at least postpone the execution. Attorneys for Cooper have filed a petition in federal court asking for a delay in the inmate's sentence. The petition claims that lethal injections used to administer the death penalty in California constitute "cruel and unusual punishment" in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Attorney David Alexander argued that potassium chloride used to stop the heart of the condemned man causes "excruciating pain." He noted that the substance has been outlawed for use on animals in several states.

Deputy California Attorney General Holly Wilkins responded that an anesthetic is given before the potassium chloride is administered, rendering the prisoner unable to feel any discomfort.

Cooper is scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday morning at San Quentin Prison. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has already rejected a clemency request.

Cooper was convicted of four counts of murder for the 1983 slayings of Douglas and Peggy Ryen, their 10-year-old daughter Jessica, and an 11-year-old houseguest, Christopher Hughes. Eight-year-old Joshua Ryen, although severely injured, survived the attack.

Cooper had just escaped from the nearby California Institution for Men at Chino when the murders occurred.

[kcvl]

The former UPI reporter, Kristina Rebelo-Anderson, told a news conference she met a man in 1997 named Albert Anthony Ruiz who claimed to be a former San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy in hiding and that he had knowledge that deputies planted evidence.

Rebelo-Anderson -- accompanied by one of Cooper's lawyers, Greg L. Evans -- acknowledged that checks by San Bernardino County this week found no record that Ruiz had worked in law enforcement.

She said she came forward last week with the information because Cooper "had a date with the executioner" and still believes Ruiz has some information about the case.

Evans said that on Friday he would be presenting Rebelo-Anderson's statement to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and to the U.S. attorney's office.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department ran Albert Anthony Ruiz's name, Social Security number and date of birth through its records, and the search showed Ruiz never worked there, spokesman Chip Patterson told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Patterson said the department was disturbed by the "antics of anyone claiming to be associated with our department" and allegations its detectives planted evidence. The department was discussing the situation with the county district attorney's office, he said.

Reached by phone on Wednesday, Ruiz said he had no comment about what he told Rebelo-Anderson.

"I've got nothing to say," he said.

Cooper's San Bernardino County prosecutor John Kochis said he believes the bigger question is why Rebelo-Anderson never called him or any other law enforcement officials when she heard the evidence-planting allegations seven years ago.

"I never got a call from her ever saying she had information on the case. It's the first I've heard of it. I've been on the case since June 1983.

[boop]

Please help me understand this. So what if the blond hairs are from someone else? Maybe Cooper had an accomplice. It doesn't mean he is "innocent". Also, How do the lawyers explain away footprints, fingerprints, etc. How did the police obtain a sample of Cooper's blood to "plant" at the scene, if Cooper was hiding in Mexico? If he was staying at the house next to the victims, why did he leave for Mexico the very night of the murders? I'm not a big fan of the death penalty, but I am really starting to hate these activists. WHOEVER committed this crime should be punished, not the victim's families. Do these activists take smiling pictures with the family of the people slaughtered?

[Allan]

Prediction: The blonde hair will prove to be the victim's own

Of course the blonde hair was from the girl's own head.
She was struck on the head many times with a hatchet
and when she touched her head with her bloody hand the hair stuck to it.

The evidence against this brute is overwhelming.
It was overwhelming even before they did the DNA tests.
(Cooper was convicted 20 years ago, before DNA testing.)

Lanny Davis is a criminal and should be executed as well.

I won't say what I think about John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg

[goldstategop]

Don't or Jim Rob will get you banned for life from FR.

[macrahanish #1]

They will claim,of course,that the evidence was planted or manipulated. Remember, they tried to frame O.J. this way.(sarcasm off)

[goldstategop]

Or they will claim so much time has passed there's reasonable doubt about what is after all circumstantial evidence.

[BCR #226]

Normally, I'd agree with you and the other posters here. But one alarming thing is bothering me about this... the surviving kid initially claimed that it was 3-4 guys and when he saw Cooper on the TV said it wasn't him. Then he changed his story later...

Does this sound familiar? Like how the cops have "suggested" to kids certain things to get them to claim that they were sexually molested when it didn't happen. If not for this, I'd say put the guy to sleep but this bothers me. I think that the courts may have made the right decision this one rare time.

Mike

[evad]

Cooper wants DNA evidence linking him to the slayings tested for signs that it was planted at the crime scene, as well as DNA tests on hair found in one of the victims' hands, which has never undergone forensic testing.

What kind of test could they run that would prove that the evidence was PLANTED?

..there is no reason to hurry

Hurry..
didn't this happen in 1985?

claims the hair found in one of the victim's hands, if scientifically tested, would support his claims that a trio of murderers committed the savage attacks.

Now, how does this clown know this?
Did he see a trio of men run out of the house after the murder?

Maybe it was the one armed man. Sorry bozo, that one's already been used.

They chanted. They beat drums. They waved picket signs bearing the face of a black man who came very close Monday night to being put to death for the slayings of four people 20 years ago.

Ahh...Mike Farrell and the "forgiveness people". I have a special place for them too.

[Sidebar Moderator]

Related thread.