ChicagoAvenger
05-07-2009, 06:02 AM
State high court upholds SF death sentence NEWS
Published 05/07/2009
http://ebar.com//images/articles/07_09_Bolden_19_LRG.jpg
Clifford Bolden, in a 2004 mug shot.
It was not the first time Clifford Bolden would kill a man. But it would be the last.
Henry Michael Pedersen had no way of knowing Bolden's background as he chatted with him in the Pendulum bar in the Castro on the night of September 8, 1986.
Bolden was on parole for killing two men in 1979. He cut one man's throat with a machete. Four months later he stabbed another twice in the back. He was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. His lawyers argued that he deserved a light sentence because of the difficult circumstances of his upbringing.WTF?
No one knows what the two men chatted about that night in the Pendulum. But if the conversation turned to Bolden's life story, the story he told probably bore little resemblance to reality. Pedersen invited him home.
That night nearly 23 years ago would end with Pedersen, 46, becoming Bolden's third victim. Bolden was 31 at the time.
After a night of drinking, Bolden stabbed Pedersen to death and left his body in the bathtub of Pedersen's Corbett Avenue home. Bolden carved an "L" shape into Pedersen's chest. Bolden was arrested two days later. Physical evidence connected him to the crime. Police found jewelry and other valuables belonging to Pedersen in Bolden's apartment. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
This week, the California Supreme Court closed one of the final chapters in the case against Bolden by upholding his death sentence.
Bolden is the only San Francisco man on death row. He is among 680 prisoners awaiting execution in California. San Francisco's last district attorney, Terence Hallinan, and current DA Kamala Harris, have refused to seek the death penalty in any eligible cases.
Legendary drag performer and community activist Jose Sarria, a.k.a. Empress Jose I, the Widow Norton, took center stage in Bolden's latest appeal. Sarria was a member of the jury that convicted Bolden of first-degree murder in 1991 for the robbery and stabbing death of Pedersen. The attorney who is handling Bolden's appeal argued that Sarria knew Pedersen and that Sarria told another juror that he helped Pedersen "get out of trouble" when Pedersen was younger and that he had helped him get a job at the Emporium department store.
The state Supreme Court upheld Bolden's death sentence in 2002 but in 2005 it agreed to consider the issue of Sarria's alleged bias. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Mary Morgan was appointed to conduct a hearing with witnesses, including Sarria and other former jurors. The hearing was held over eight days in 2007. The juror who allegedly told a defense investigator that Sarria knew Pedersen had died prior to the hearing. Bolden's attorney also argued that Sarria had made up his mind before deliberations that Bolden should get the death penalty and that he refused to be flexible or consider the other jurors' opinions.
Morgan concluded that Sarria was credible when he insisted that he didn't know Pedersen. She also found that he had deliberated fairly.
Sarria was not aware of the high court's ruling until he was informed of it by the Bay Area Reporter on Monday, May 4. He told the B.A.R. that he stood by his deposition and declined further comment.
"When you say nothing, they can't accuse you," he told the B.A.R.
Bolden's lawyers had argued unsuccessfully that the special circumstances of robbery were not present in his conviction for the killing of Pedersen. They noted that Bolden had advertised his services as a model or escort in the B.A.R. and claimed that Bolden robbed Pedersen as payment for his services.
Bolden is being held in San Quentin State Prison, the site of California's only death row for male prisoners. The B.A.R. requested comment directly from Bolden in a 2005 letter that was sent to him at the prison. He never responded. Bolden's attorney, Jeanne Keevan-Lynch, did not respond to the B.A.R. 's call or e-mail by press time.
http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=3906
Published 05/07/2009
http://ebar.com//images/articles/07_09_Bolden_19_LRG.jpg
Clifford Bolden, in a 2004 mug shot.
It was not the first time Clifford Bolden would kill a man. But it would be the last.
Henry Michael Pedersen had no way of knowing Bolden's background as he chatted with him in the Pendulum bar in the Castro on the night of September 8, 1986.
Bolden was on parole for killing two men in 1979. He cut one man's throat with a machete. Four months later he stabbed another twice in the back. He was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. His lawyers argued that he deserved a light sentence because of the difficult circumstances of his upbringing.WTF?
No one knows what the two men chatted about that night in the Pendulum. But if the conversation turned to Bolden's life story, the story he told probably bore little resemblance to reality. Pedersen invited him home.
That night nearly 23 years ago would end with Pedersen, 46, becoming Bolden's third victim. Bolden was 31 at the time.
After a night of drinking, Bolden stabbed Pedersen to death and left his body in the bathtub of Pedersen's Corbett Avenue home. Bolden carved an "L" shape into Pedersen's chest. Bolden was arrested two days later. Physical evidence connected him to the crime. Police found jewelry and other valuables belonging to Pedersen in Bolden's apartment. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
This week, the California Supreme Court closed one of the final chapters in the case against Bolden by upholding his death sentence.
Bolden is the only San Francisco man on death row. He is among 680 prisoners awaiting execution in California. San Francisco's last district attorney, Terence Hallinan, and current DA Kamala Harris, have refused to seek the death penalty in any eligible cases.
Legendary drag performer and community activist Jose Sarria, a.k.a. Empress Jose I, the Widow Norton, took center stage in Bolden's latest appeal. Sarria was a member of the jury that convicted Bolden of first-degree murder in 1991 for the robbery and stabbing death of Pedersen. The attorney who is handling Bolden's appeal argued that Sarria knew Pedersen and that Sarria told another juror that he helped Pedersen "get out of trouble" when Pedersen was younger and that he had helped him get a job at the Emporium department store.
The state Supreme Court upheld Bolden's death sentence in 2002 but in 2005 it agreed to consider the issue of Sarria's alleged bias. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Mary Morgan was appointed to conduct a hearing with witnesses, including Sarria and other former jurors. The hearing was held over eight days in 2007. The juror who allegedly told a defense investigator that Sarria knew Pedersen had died prior to the hearing. Bolden's attorney also argued that Sarria had made up his mind before deliberations that Bolden should get the death penalty and that he refused to be flexible or consider the other jurors' opinions.
Morgan concluded that Sarria was credible when he insisted that he didn't know Pedersen. She also found that he had deliberated fairly.
Sarria was not aware of the high court's ruling until he was informed of it by the Bay Area Reporter on Monday, May 4. He told the B.A.R. that he stood by his deposition and declined further comment.
"When you say nothing, they can't accuse you," he told the B.A.R.
Bolden's lawyers had argued unsuccessfully that the special circumstances of robbery were not present in his conviction for the killing of Pedersen. They noted that Bolden had advertised his services as a model or escort in the B.A.R. and claimed that Bolden robbed Pedersen as payment for his services.
Bolden is being held in San Quentin State Prison, the site of California's only death row for male prisoners. The B.A.R. requested comment directly from Bolden in a 2005 letter that was sent to him at the prison. He never responded. Bolden's attorney, Jeanne Keevan-Lynch, did not respond to the B.A.R. 's call or e-mail by press time.
http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=3906