Prison, protesters ready for first execution in two years

By: DAVID KRAVETS - AP Legal Affairs Writer | Sunday, February 8, 2004 10:00 PM PST ∞

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- San Quentin State Prison officials are gearing up for California's first execution in two years, putting fresh restrictions on inmates and curbing visitors.

The prison, along the shores of San Francisco Bay just north of here, is home to the nation's largest death row of 638 inmates and more than 5,000 other prisoners. Officials said that because of the upcoming execution, inmates are being allowed fewer visitors, their movements on prison grounds restricted and the daily stream of volunteers is coming to a trickle.

Authorities are preparing to inject a lethal dose of drugs into Kevin Cooper, convicted of hacking to death four people, two of them children, in Chino Hills after he escaped from a nearby prison in 1983. Cooper, who is scheduled to die just after midnight Tuesday, is being relocated to an isolation cell off death row, said Bob Martinez, a California Department of Corrections spokesman.

"He's being moved to a cell away from other inmates," Martinez said.

Cooper has maintained his innocence and his representatives have put on a blistering legal and public relations campaign in a bid to halt his execution. Last-minute appeals are bombarding the courts, while the Rev. Jesse Jackson, former boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and a host of celebrities have taken to the airwaves, purchasing newspaper ads and holding news conferences to sway public opinion against the death penalty and to lobby the governor to grant clemency.

On Sunday, one of Cooper's legal claims was turned aside by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld a lower court's ruling rejecting the condemned man's claim that execution by lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment.

Still, the public relations campaign continued on Cooper's behalf. Death penalty opponents gathered Sunday in front of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's home in Southern California, urging the state's chief executive to spare Cooper's life.

A day earlier, on Saturday, three of the jurors who convicted Cooper called for a stay of execution so hair and blood evidence can be tested.

But the mother of one of Cooper's victims, Mary Ann Hughes, dismissed the jurors' plea.

"This is nothing new," said Hughes, whose 11-year-old son, Christopher, was killed. "It's stuff that has been looked at millions of times. This is just an example of the defense playing on the jurors emotions at the last minute."

Hughes also said she and her family are disturbed by reports that some celebrities were planning to somehow show support for clemency.

"Our feeling is that as far as these Grammys are concerned this is an event that is put on to honor the very best in their industry and not to support the very worst of humanity," Hughes said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has already declined to halt the execution. The governor said he had no business meddling with two decades of failed appeals by Cooper.

Hundreds of demonstrators are planning a candlelight vigil outside the prison gates.

"This could be one of our biggest protests ever," said Lance Lindsay, executive director of Death Penalty Focus, a group that lobbies against the death penalty.

Cooper, 46, was convicted in 1985 and sentenced to death for the murders of Douglas and Peggy Ryen, both 41, their 10-year-old daughter, Jessica, and Christopher Hughes, her 11-year-old friend.

The San Bernardino County victims were stabbed and hacked repeatedly with a hatchet and buck knife. The Ryens' 8-year-old son, Joshua, had his throat slit, but survived.

When the murders were committed, Cooper had escaped from prison, where he was serving a four-year sentence for burglary. Authorities speculated his motive was to steal the family's station wagon. Cooper eluded authorities for two months after the murders. He was arrested in Santa Barbara, living on a boat as a deckhand.

Hughes says she has reserved seats in the execution chamber to be among the 50 public witnesses to the lethal injection.

"I may not be able to watch, but my husband will," she said of her husband, Bill. "My husband is the one who found them all dead. He needs this."

Among Cooper's most significant allegations, he says DNA evidence found at the scene, which matches his, was planted by authorities. He has repeatedly asked for renewed tests, but the courts have balked, saying there is no evidence of tampering and there is overwhelming evidence of Cooper's guilt.

State prosecutors have balked at the allegations, and said it's time for Cooper to die.

Cooper maintains a trio of murderers committed the savage attacks, according to his attorney, David Alexander.

"Can you sleep at night knowing three people are out there that are responsible?" Alexander asked.