BONIN APPEALS AGAIN\Killer of 14 faces execution Friday.Byline: Janet Gilmore Daily News Staff Writer Attorneys for condemned killer William Bonin William George Bonin (8 January 1947 – 23 February 1996) was an American serial killer, also known as “the Freeway Killer”, a nickname he shares with two other serial killers. filed a new federal appeal Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. seeking to block next week's scheduled execution. Federal courts are closed Monday and it was unclear when the lengthy writ would be reviewed and considered by a judge. Bonin, 49, is scheduled to die by lethal injection  This article or section may deal primarily with the U.S. and may not present a worldwide view. at 12:01 a.m. Friday for the slayings of 14 young men and boys in Los Angeles and Orange counties in 1979 and 1980. Their nude bodies were dumped alongside freeways. He would be the first person executed in California since David Mason
In their 60-page appeal filed late Friday, Bonin's attorneys cite a host of reasons why their client's life should be spared, including ineffective counsel, questionable witness testimony and improper juror juror n. any person who actually serves on a jury. Lists of potential jurors are chosen from various sources such as registered voters, automobile registration or telephone directories. conduct. One argument contends that Bonin's attorneys did not learn in a timely manner about a series of alleged violations by jurors, thus denied him effective assistance of counsel as required by law. Bonin argues that at least two jurors in his Los Angeles County case and one in his Orange County case revealed in recent declarations that they refused to consider any penalty other than death after the evidence phase of his trial. "I myself had made up my mind as soon as we found him guilty of the crime," a January declaration from juror Miguel E. Fernandez states. "I cannot imagine anything that the defense attorney could have said, nor any evidence he could have presented, to have made me vote for a life sentence." Several jurors stated that they recommended the death penalty because they had heard of cases in which defendants sentenced to life in prison were set free and thus could kill again, the appeal argues. Bonin contends that jurors violated their oaths and the judge failed to properly advise them on the term "life without the possibility of parole." Bonin also contends that it is cruel and unusual punishment Such punishment as would amount to torture or barbarity, any cruel and degrading punishment not known to the Common Law, or any fine, penalty, confinement, or treatment that is so disproportionate to the offense as to shock the moral sense of the community. , in violation of California law California Law consists of 29 codes, covering various subject areas, the State Constitution and Statutes. See also
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