Dudley Seeks Death Penalty for “Golden State Killer”
Santa Barbara DA Makes Push Despite Governor’s Order
On March 12, Joyce Dudley got a heads-up call from Gavin Newsom’s office that the governor was about to declare a moratorium on death row executions in California.
Less than a month later, in the case of accused serial murderer and rapist Joseph James DeAngelo, however, Santa Barbara’s district attorney joined other prosecutors in announcing they would seek the death sentence for the alleged “Golden State Killer.”
As fallout reverberates from Newsom’s surprise, controversial move, Dudley’s action illustrates the complex legal, political, and social crosscurrents and consequences of Newsom’s assertion of solitary executive authority over an issue that has been fiercely debated for decades across the state.
