California’s death row includes 564 inmates, and gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra is revisiting the state’s capital punishment policy following the botched execution of Tennessee inmate Christa Pike.
Among those sentenced to death in California are high-profile criminals including Scott Peterson, who was convicted in 2004 of murdering his eight-months-pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and serial killer Charles Ng, convicted of 11 first-degree murders. Peterson’s death sentence was overturned in 2020, and he was resentenced to life in prison without parole.
The debate over capital punishment intensified after Pike’s scheduled execution went awry Wednesday. Tennessee corrections officials administered two doses of the powerful sedative pentobarbital, but the drug failed to kill her, and she was taken to a hospital.
“Christa is critically ill but not in a coma as I understand it,” her attorney told TMZ, saying she remained unconscious as of Thursday afternoon.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 torture and killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prosecutors said Pike beat, slashed and bludgeoned Slemmer to death.
Asked Thursday about his position on the death penalty after the failed execution, a Becerra campaign spokesperson referred the California Post to a May social media post in which the candidate praised Gov. Gavin Newsom’s moratorium on executions.
“Governor Newsom’s death penalty moratorium represented an important step toward a more just criminal justice system,” Becerra said.
“As Governor, I will extend California’s moratorium on executions and continue moving our state away from a costly, flawed system that disproportionately impacts Black and brown communities and too often gets it wrong.”
California has not executed an inmate since 2006, despite operating the largest death row in the United States. Newsom imposed the state’s execution moratorium in 2019.
Newsom’s office reaffirmed the governor’s position after the Pike incident, telling The Post by email that he has characterized the death penalty as discriminatory and costly. He made those arguments when signing the executive order that halted executions.
“Governor Newsom has been clear about his position on the death penalty since his first year in office, when he ordered a moratorium on executions,” his office said.
Becerra’s Republican opponent, Steve Hilton, said he personally opposes the death penalty but would not extend the moratorium, pointing to California voters’ previous support for capital punishment.
In November 2016, California voters rejected Proposition 62, which would have abolished the death penalty. They instead approved Proposition 66, a measure designed to accelerate the execution process.
“I don’t think it’s OK for a governor to just substitute their personal opinion on an issue where the voters had an explicit and direct say,” Hilton told the Los Angeles Times.
The moratorium does not prevent California prosecutors from seeking the death penalty. More than 200 people have received death sentences in the state since its last execution in 2006, according to CalMatters.
