Court Refuses to Free ‘Onion Field’ Killer

A state appellate panel refused Friday to order the release of “Onion Field” killer Gregory Ulas Powell while the California Supreme Court decides whether to reconsider a ruling it made upholding his right to parole.

In a brief order, the three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeal denied a petition by Powell’s lawyer that contended that the convict was entitled to immediate release.

This latest action in the highly publicized, 24-year-old case left Powell’s fate squarely in the hands of the state Supreme Court.

The high court, in a 4-3 decision issued Dec. 29, ruled that the state Board of Prison Terms had improperly canceled a 1982 parole date it previously granted to Powell, who is serving a life term for the murder of Los Angeles Police Officer Ian Campbell in an onion field in 1963.

The majority included three court members who left office Jan. 5, after their defeat in the Nov. 4 election--Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird and Justices Cruz Reynoso and Joseph R. Grodin.

But under court procedures, court rulings do not become final until 30 days after they are filed--and earlier this week, state Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp filed a petition asking the court to reconsider its ruling and deny Powell freedom.

The court can extend the deadline for reconsideration to a total of 90 days, and if such an extension is ordered, it is possible that three new court members to be appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian could take office, enhancing the likelihood of a rehearing.

Meanwhile, presiding justices from the state appeal court here can be appointed to sit temporarily on the high court and could be called upon to vote on the state’s rehearing petition.

Powell’s attorney, Dennis P. Riordan of San Francisco, expressed disappointment over the appellate court’s action, but said he will ask the state Supreme Court to order Powell’s release while it considers the rehearing petition.

“We’ll go there as soon as we can next week,” Riordan said.

The appeal court’s one-sentence order was signed by Presiding Justice Clinton White and Justices James B. Scott and Betty Barry-Deal.

The same panel in a 1984 ruling had upheld the parole board’s decision to cancel Powell’s parole--but was reversed by the high court. The opinion in the appellate ruling was written by Scott, who is one of six judges now being considered by Deukmejian for the three vacancies on the state Supreme Court.