Can Death Row Inmate Get a New Trial?
SF Gate www.sfgate.com
Motives of gay rights activist questioned 14 years after trial
- Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Clifford Bolden is the only convicted murderer from San Francisco on California's Death Row. Now, through a set of odd circumstances, he has a chance at life.
That chance rests on trying to destroy the credibility of an 81-year-old juror, who 14 years ago wanted and still wants nothing more than to see Bolden die for the killing of a gay man.
The juror in question, Jose Sarria, was an unlikely choice to sit in judgment in such a volatile case. Sarria was a pioneer in the local gay rights movement and is believed to be the first openly gay candidate to have run for public office in the United States. For years he performed as a female impersonator in San Francisco as the "Widow Norton," after the fictional wife of the 19th century San Francisco character Emperor Norton.
Sarria sat on the panel that in 1991 recommended that Bolden be sentenced to death for the 1986 robbery and stabbing of Henry Michael Pedersen, a model and escort Bolden met at the Pendulum, a Castro neighborhood bar. Pedersen had apparently taken Bolden home after a night of heavy drinking.
Since his sentencing, Bolden, 49, has made several legal arguments to the state Supreme Court in two separate challenges. As is common in capital cases, the high court rejected most of them.
Court review ordered
Then, earlier this year, the court ordered a lower court to explore Sarria's role on the jury.
Bolden's appeals team maintains that Sarria told a fellow juror that he had ties to both the defendant and the victim, but never disclosed them in court.
The defense also contends that Sarria refused to deliberate with other jurors, in an apparent effort to avenge the victim and make "a point about being gay."
"Jose Sarria pushed his fellow jurors for a verdict of death with a display of immovable will and inside information,'' Jeanne Keevan-Lynch, Bolden's appeal attorney, argued to the state high court.
The state attorney general's office says the defense claims about Sarria are groundless and that the hearing on his conduct -- which has yet to be scheduled -- will put the matter to rest.
"These are disputed facts that require resolution,'' said Ron Matthias, supervising deputy attorney general. "We think the court has done the right thing here.''
Appeal to Kamala Harris
Bolden's defense is also appealing to the political sensibilities of San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, who like her predecessor, Terence Hallinan, opposes capital punishment and refuses to seek the death penalty.
It's been more than 10 years since a San Francisco jury was asked to sentence a defendant to death, and Bolden is the only one of the 644 condemned inmates in California whose crime was committed in the city.
For his part, Sarria says he's tired of the legal maneuvering.
"He has been sitting on Death Row all this time -- it's unbelievable," Sarria said in a phone interview from his home in Cathedral City near San Diego. "Our justice system needs to be overhauled.''
The crime
Pedersen, 46, an unemployed accountant, was found stabbed to death in the bathtub of his Twin Peaks apartment Sept. 9, 1986. His blood alcohol was measured at 0.36 percent, well over the legal definition of drunkenness. Authorities think Bolden stabbed him in the back, then carved an "L"-shaped wound on his chest after he died.
Bolden's fingerprints were lifted from a glass and bottle in the apartment and his palm print was found on a bathtub wall. Police found some of Pedersen's property at Bolden's apartment, including an identification bracelet, a camera, a camera case and binoculars.
Bolden had been paroled from San Quentin State Prison earlier in 1986 after serving about seven years for two manslaughter convictions, one from San Francisco and one from San Jose.
When Bolden went to trial in 1990, Sarria was impaneled as an alternate juror. He became one of the 12 voting members during the penalty phase after another panelist was excused.
Sarria would seem to have been less than an ideal juror from the defense's perspective. In addition to his career as a female impersonator, he became the first openly gay political candidate in the nation in 1961 when he ran for the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco.
Defense attorneys lodged no objections to Sarria at the time, but Bolden's appellate lawyers came to focus on him as they fought to save their client from the death chamber.
Another juror talks
The defense argued to the state Supreme Court that Sarria had confided to another juror, who has since died, that he knew Pedersen and had helped him get a job at the old Emporium Capwell department store. In a sworn statement in 1996, juror Charlia Verna Sessions said Sarria had talked with her regularly when they rode the bus home from court. One time, she said, Sarria told her that the victim "was a good man.''
In the recent interview, Sarria acknowledged that he did ride the bus for 10 months with Sessions and talked with her. But he denied that he had known Pedersen or had helped him find a job.
"He was a bar person. I was not a bar person,'' Sarria said. "I did not know him. Where they got that notion, I don't know.''
The defense also has argued that Sarria had ties to the defendant, Bolden, that he never disclosed during the trial.
Sessions said in her declaration that Sarria had told her that he knew the man with whom Bolden was having an affair at the time of the killing.
Sarria had helped the man, Andre Montgomery, get a job as an impersonator at the North Beach club Finocchio's, where Sarria performed as the Widow Norton.
After the sentencing, Sarria told a defense investigator that Montgomery had walked into the club one day and announced he had a new "romance of the year" -- who turned out to be Bolden.
Witnesses testified that Montgomery and Bolden had been walking together when police arrested Bolden, and authorities said the two had been sharing an apartment.
"I have the transcripts of the trial. I know how often Montgomery's name came up,'' said Bolden's attorney, Keevan-Lynch. Montgomery was ill with HIV at the time of the trial and died soon after.
Keevan-Lynch contends that Sarria did not tell the court that he knew Montgomery for a reason. "No reasonable explanation, other than desire to avoid removal (from the jury), is apparent,'' she argued to the state Supreme Court.
Sarria said in the interview that he had known Montgomery, but that he hadn't learned that Montgomery and Bolden were lovers until after the trial.
"Andre kept Mr. Bolden a secret,'' he said.
The defense has also used jurors' statements to suggest that Sarria refused to deliberate during the sentencing phase because he had an agenda.
In her declaration, Sessions recalled wondering whether Sarria was fit to serve on the jury. "He was determined to decide the case so as to make some sort of a point about being gay,'' she said.
Another juror, Thomas Shepherd, said in a 1998 sworn declaration that Sarria had announced he stood for death soon after deliberations started and would not change his mind.
"The room was silent for several moments afterwards,'' Shepherd said. "I recalled the judge telling us that we were supposed to deliberate and not take a stand right away. I thought this juror should be removed, but I did not say anything.''
Sarria's demeanor "said we were going to be stuck in this situation until we bent to his will,'' Shepherd said.
Eventually, jurors who favored sparing Bolden's life changed their votes to death.
"I voted accordingly, seeing no hope of getting out without doing what Mr. Sarria wanted, or behaving as he did,'' Shepherd said.
Sarria's response
Sarria denies he made up his mind ahead of time.
"I listened to everything," he said. "My mind was made up when we considered all the evidence.''
When the time came, Sarria said, he was a strong advocate for sentencing Bolden to death and sometimes grew frustrated with other jurors.
One woman suggested that Bolden might be rehabilitated, he said.
"When she said that, I nearly put my hand through the table," Sarria said. "I had to convince her that he had all the chances in the world, he wasn't going to be rehabilitated.''
Keevan-Lynch has written a letter to District Attorney Harris, asking her to review the record and, rather than defend the case, petition the high court to modify Bolden's sentence to life without parole.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Russ Giuntini said the office is limited to carrying out what the state Supreme Court has asked it to do.
"We couldn't go in and say, 'We don't want the death penalty on this,' " Giuntini said. "The hearings are very specifically directed. We couldn't parade into court and say, 'We don't want the death penalty,' even if we wanted to. Our hands are tied.''
Keevan-Lynch insists that Harris "has a choice. I think she has the option, and I have told her this. Kamala Harris is saying she doesn't have a choice, but what is she basing that on?''
Matthias, the deputy attorney general, said he doesn't see how Harris could do what Keevan-Lynch is asking.
"The case is final," he said. "What is she talking about?''
E-mail Jaxon Van Derbeken at jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com.
Page A - 1
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/07/17/MNG5GDPEJR1.DTL
©2005 San Francisco Chronicle
Motives of gay rights activist questioned 14 years after trial
- Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Clifford Bolden is the only convicted murderer from San Francisco on California's Death Row. Now, through a set of odd circumstances, he has a chance at life.
That chance rests on trying to destroy the credibility of an 81-year-old juror, who 14 years ago wanted and still wants nothing more than to see Bolden die for the killing of a gay man.
The juror in question, Jose Sarria, was an unlikely choice to sit in judgment in such a volatile case. Sarria was a pioneer in the local gay rights movement and is believed to be the first openly gay candidate to have run for public office in the United States. For years he performed as a female impersonator in San Francisco as the "Widow Norton," after the fictional wife of the 19th century San Francisco character Emperor Norton.
Sarria sat on the panel that in 1991 recommended that Bolden be sentenced to death for the 1986 robbery and stabbing of Henry Michael Pedersen, a model and escort Bolden met at the Pendulum, a Castro neighborhood bar. Pedersen had apparently taken Bolden home after a night of heavy drinking.
Since his sentencing, Bolden, 49, has made several legal arguments to the state Supreme Court in two separate challenges. As is common in capital cases, the high court rejected most of them.
Court review ordered
Then, earlier this year, the court ordered a lower court to explore Sarria's role on the jury.
Bolden's appeals team maintains that Sarria told a fellow juror that he had ties to both the defendant and the victim, but never disclosed them in court.
The defense also contends that Sarria refused to deliberate with other jurors, in an apparent effort to avenge the victim and make "a point about being gay."
"Jose Sarria pushed his fellow jurors for a verdict of death with a display of immovable will and inside information,'' Jeanne Keevan-Lynch, Bolden's appeal attorney, argued to the state high court.
The state attorney general's office says the defense claims about Sarria are groundless and that the hearing on his conduct -- which has yet to be scheduled -- will put the matter to rest.
"These are disputed facts that require resolution,'' said Ron Matthias, supervising deputy attorney general. "We think the court has done the right thing here.''
Appeal to Kamala Harris
Bolden's defense is also appealing to the political sensibilities of San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, who like her predecessor, Terence Hallinan, opposes capital punishment and refuses to seek the death penalty.
It's been more than 10 years since a San Francisco jury was asked to sentence a defendant to death, and Bolden is the only one of the 644 condemned inmates in California whose crime was committed in the city.
For his part, Sarria says he's tired of the legal maneuvering.
"He has been sitting on Death Row all this time -- it's unbelievable," Sarria said in a phone interview from his home in Cathedral City near San Diego. "Our justice system needs to be overhauled.''
The crime
Pedersen, 46, an unemployed accountant, was found stabbed to death in the bathtub of his Twin Peaks apartment Sept. 9, 1986. His blood alcohol was measured at 0.36 percent, well over the legal definition of drunkenness. Authorities think Bolden stabbed him in the back, then carved an "L"-shaped wound on his chest after he died.
Bolden's fingerprints were lifted from a glass and bottle in the apartment and his palm print was found on a bathtub wall. Police found some of Pedersen's property at Bolden's apartment, including an identification bracelet, a camera, a camera case and binoculars.
Bolden had been paroled from San Quentin State Prison earlier in 1986 after serving about seven years for two manslaughter convictions, one from San Francisco and one from San Jose.
When Bolden went to trial in 1990, Sarria was impaneled as an alternate juror. He became one of the 12 voting members during the penalty phase after another panelist was excused.
Sarria would seem to have been less than an ideal juror from the defense's perspective. In addition to his career as a female impersonator, he became the first openly gay political candidate in the nation in 1961 when he ran for the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco.
Defense attorneys lodged no objections to Sarria at the time, but Bolden's appellate lawyers came to focus on him as they fought to save their client from the death chamber.
Another juror talks
The defense argued to the state Supreme Court that Sarria had confided to another juror, who has since died, that he knew Pedersen and had helped him get a job at the old Emporium Capwell department store. In a sworn statement in 1996, juror Charlia Verna Sessions said Sarria had talked with her regularly when they rode the bus home from court. One time, she said, Sarria told her that the victim "was a good man.''
In the recent interview, Sarria acknowledged that he did ride the bus for 10 months with Sessions and talked with her. But he denied that he had known Pedersen or had helped him find a job.
"He was a bar person. I was not a bar person,'' Sarria said. "I did not know him. Where they got that notion, I don't know.''
The defense also has argued that Sarria had ties to the defendant, Bolden, that he never disclosed during the trial.
Sessions said in her declaration that Sarria had told her that he knew the man with whom Bolden was having an affair at the time of the killing.
Sarria had helped the man, Andre Montgomery, get a job as an impersonator at the North Beach club Finocchio's, where Sarria performed as the Widow Norton.
After the sentencing, Sarria told a defense investigator that Montgomery had walked into the club one day and announced he had a new "romance of the year" -- who turned out to be Bolden.
Witnesses testified that Montgomery and Bolden had been walking together when police arrested Bolden, and authorities said the two had been sharing an apartment.
"I have the transcripts of the trial. I know how often Montgomery's name came up,'' said Bolden's attorney, Keevan-Lynch. Montgomery was ill with HIV at the time of the trial and died soon after.
Keevan-Lynch contends that Sarria did not tell the court that he knew Montgomery for a reason. "No reasonable explanation, other than desire to avoid removal (from the jury), is apparent,'' she argued to the state Supreme Court.
Sarria said in the interview that he had known Montgomery, but that he hadn't learned that Montgomery and Bolden were lovers until after the trial.
"Andre kept Mr. Bolden a secret,'' he said.
The defense has also used jurors' statements to suggest that Sarria refused to deliberate during the sentencing phase because he had an agenda.
In her declaration, Sessions recalled wondering whether Sarria was fit to serve on the jury. "He was determined to decide the case so as to make some sort of a point about being gay,'' she said.
Another juror, Thomas Shepherd, said in a 1998 sworn declaration that Sarria had announced he stood for death soon after deliberations started and would not change his mind.
"The room was silent for several moments afterwards,'' Shepherd said. "I recalled the judge telling us that we were supposed to deliberate and not take a stand right away. I thought this juror should be removed, but I did not say anything.''
Sarria's demeanor "said we were going to be stuck in this situation until we bent to his will,'' Shepherd said.
Eventually, jurors who favored sparing Bolden's life changed their votes to death.
"I voted accordingly, seeing no hope of getting out without doing what Mr. Sarria wanted, or behaving as he did,'' Shepherd said.
Sarria's response
Sarria denies he made up his mind ahead of time.
"I listened to everything," he said. "My mind was made up when we considered all the evidence.''
When the time came, Sarria said, he was a strong advocate for sentencing Bolden to death and sometimes grew frustrated with other jurors.
One woman suggested that Bolden might be rehabilitated, he said.
"When she said that, I nearly put my hand through the table," Sarria said. "I had to convince her that he had all the chances in the world, he wasn't going to be rehabilitated.''
Keevan-Lynch has written a letter to District Attorney Harris, asking her to review the record and, rather than defend the case, petition the high court to modify Bolden's sentence to life without parole.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Russ Giuntini said the office is limited to carrying out what the state Supreme Court has asked it to do.
"We couldn't go in and say, 'We don't want the death penalty on this,' " Giuntini said. "The hearings are very specifically directed. We couldn't parade into court and say, 'We don't want the death penalty,' even if we wanted to. Our hands are tied.''
Keevan-Lynch insists that Harris "has a choice. I think she has the option, and I have told her this. Kamala Harris is saying she doesn't have a choice, but what is she basing that on?''
Matthias, the deputy attorney general, said he doesn't see how Harris could do what Keevan-Lynch is asking.
"The case is final," he said. "What is she talking about?''
E-mail Jaxon Van Derbeken at jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com.
Page A - 1
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/07/17/MNG5GDPEJR1.DTL
©2005 San Francisco Chronicle
posted by Professor Segal | 8:16 PM
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