December Execution Set for Killer of 3

SACRAMENTO —  A Riverside County Superior Court judge has fixed a Dec. 3 execution date for condemned murderer Ronald Lee Deere, who is in line to be the first inmate put to death in California’s gas chamber since 1967.

While higher courts commonly postpone execution dates, the action Monday by Judge Richard G. Van Frank could actually trigger an execution this year because Deere, who murdered three people, repeatedly has asked that appeals not be pursued on his behalf.

Despite his client’s requests, San Francisco defense attorney Robert Bryan said he will ask the state Supreme Court to lift the execution date this week, while he presses an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court.

However, given the possibility that the execution could take place Dec. 3, Assistant Atty. Gen. Harley Mayfield said he phoned San Quentin Prison to inform Warden Daniel Vasquez that the date had been set. Mayfield called the latest court action “out of the ordinary.”

“This is different in the sense that there is an indication that Deere himself may have elected not to pursue any further litigation,” Mayfield said.

Until this summer, the inmate closest to the gas chamber was Robert Alton Harris, whose execution date nearly arrived last year. His case is on appeal in federal court.

At San Quentin, spokesman Lt. Vernell Crittendon said Tuesday that when Vasquez told Deere that an execution date had been set, “Deere responded that he was not intending to actively pursue any legal appeals.” But noting that this is Deere’s first execution date, Crittendon said, prison authorities anticipate there may be a postponement.

Deere has said several times that he should be put to death for the murders of a friend, Donald L. Davis, and Davis’ daughters, Michelle, 7, and Melissa, 2, in Blythe in March, 1982.

Deere pleaded guilty at his trial, and refused to let his public defender put up a fight when the prosecutor sought the death penalty. The California Supreme Court overturned his sentence in 1985, and directed that at least some evidence be introduced on his behalf before death was imposed.

In the new penalty trial, Deere again refused to let his lawyer put on any defense. When Judge Fred Methney sentenced Deere to death a second time, the admitted murderer responded by saying, “Thank you.”

The California Constitution requires that the state Supreme Court review all death sentences. The high court affirmed his sentence in May. But whether state and federal law requires further appeals in this sort of case is unclear.

Bryan has until Oct. 22 to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. He maintains that Deere’s consent is not required for this first appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Mayfield disagreed, saying, “Our interpretation of the law is that he is not required to proceed if he doesn’t want to.”

If the U.S. Supreme Court turns down Bryan’s plea on Deere’s behalf, the lawyer can turn to other courts for a stay, though Deere could waive any such appeals if he is mentally competent.

Bryan insists that his client is not competent, and he has described Deere as retarded and suffering from multiple personalities. Days before the murders, friends sought to get him committed for psychiatric help, but were rebuffed, Bryan said.

“Had he been white instead of American Indian, and been affluent rather than poor, help would have been provided,” Bryan said. “This case is an indictment on our whole system that doesn’t provide help for needy people.”