No Executions This Year?

It appears that there may not be a single execution in California this year. Although there have been many years in the past without a killing, few have been quite like this one. With the victory in the race to save Kevin Cooper's life in February, the state Capital Punishment system was dealt a severe blow. In an attempt to reconcile that loss, California moved on to the apparently more open-shut case of Donald Beardslee. Yesterday, Friday, was supposed to be the day where the 60-year-old man was to receive his execution date; the date would have to be between Nov. 15th and Dec. 15th, thirty to sixty days from yesterday. But in a last minute surprise, Beardslee's own lawyer decided to step down in the face of daunting clemency proceedings before the possible execution. In effect, the lawyer bought the inmate anywhere between a few months and a year before an execution date, making 2004 an execution-free year in California. Word.
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