Governor Denies Clemency Petition for Severely Brain-Damaged Death Inmate

San Quentin Vigil to Protest State’s Killing of Donald Beardslee Tonight at San Quentin Prison, East Gate at 8:00 PM
For Immediate Release: January 18, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO – Hours before Donald Beardslee’s scheduled execution by lethal injection at San Quentin prison, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has turned down a severely brain-damaged inmate’s request for clemency despite pleas from a former San Quentin Warden, 12 Catholic Archdioceses, and one of the world’s leading experts in mental health. Beardslee’s is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at one minute past midnight.

“The state is executing a 61-year-old man whose right side of the brain is severely damaged, who is described by a former warden of San Quentin as a “model inmate,” and who former jurors are now calling for clemency because they did not know the extent of his brain damage during his trial twenty years ago,” said Dorothy Ehrlich, executive director of the ACLU of Northern California. “Despite these compelling pleas for mercy, including thousands of emails and calls that flooded the Governor’s office urging for clemency, the governor has turned down Beardslee’s request, clearing the way for the state’s execution. This is truly a dark day in California history when the Governor refuses to exercise his power to commute a severely brain-damaged man’s sentence to life without parole.”

Beardslee’s request for executive clemency also cited the court’s refusal to provide critical information to the jury. The jury requested information from the trial court about the punishments imposed on Beardslee’s co-defendants, which the court refused to provide. Thus the jury was left without the ability to weigh the relative guilt of the various participants. Mr. Beardslee’s role in the crimes, especially when compared to those of the co-participants and when taking into consideration his limited mental functioning, does not warrant the death penalty.

“Yesterday, the Governor ended a speech on Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday with a quote from the civil rights leader: “ ‘Let us always have the courage to do what is right.’” Unfortunately the Governor failed to heed that message today,” Ehrlich said.