The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California • 14

A kcIkm of tlx Su Fiucuco Sud)f Eimii ih) CKiookW A-14 Sunday, February 7, 1999 YOU ARE NOT TAKING YOUR FILM TO A DRUGSTORE, ARE YOU? ixm ran a II II mi mi I instant fciik our Kodak Maker stations! QiPq CLEMENCY from A-1 Davis refuses to pardon Siripongs executed in California since the death penalty was reinstated in 1978. Few modern governors have granted clemency, although a personal plea from Pope John Paul II prompted the Missouri governor last month to commute a murderer's death sentence to life in prison. Davis, who is Catholic, methodically went through every argument presented by Siripongs' attorneys. They claim Siriponp had an accomplice who actually committed the murders, then fled to Thailand; that his behavior in prison has been more than exemplary; that clemency promotes respect for international law; that even jurors in the case, one victim's husband, and a former San Quentin warden have asked for clemency. As to defense attorney claims that Siripongs "offers a daily penance for his deeds, for the shame he has brought to his family and ancestors, and for the suffering he has brought others," Davis was unswayed.

"These are important, perhaps even admirable sentiments," he wrote. "However, they do not go to the heart of this matter. Mr. Siripongs' remorse for whatever action or actions for which he feels that remorse, is not sufficient to override the due and deliberate verdict and sentence of the trial court and jury." Accomplice never named Siripongs was convicted of the murders of Orange County grocery store owner Packovan Wattana-porn and clerk Quach Nguyen during a robbery in December 1981. While admitting that he participated in the robbery, Siripongs claims the murders were committed by an accomplice, whom he has refused to name.

Wattanaporn had been strangled with a nylon cord, Nguyen stabbed many times. Police arrested Siripongs after he tried to buy a TV set using a credit card belonging to the market owner. He had knife cuts on his hands, but three defense experts now say they were defensive wounds. Siripongs' defense attorneys say the accomplice was Netnara WHAT TO DO ON "Noon" Vecharungsri, the 17-year-old sister of Siripongs' girlfriend and a key witness during his 1983 trial. She has returned to Thailand, attorneys say, and can't be found, but they want time to conduct DNA and blood tests.

SiripongB supporters have pointed to the case of Anthony Porter, who sat in an Illinois prison for 17 years insisting he was innocent of the crimes that sent him to death row. Porter, 43, walked out of the Cook County Jail and went home to his mother Friday after a journalism professor and his class gathered evidence that he was wrongly convicted of two 1982 murders. But on Siripongs' claim of innocence, Davis noted a federal judge conducted an eight-day hearing in December 1995 and found no evidence to support Siripongs' accomplice claim. The defense was rejected by four separate courts, including a three-judge federal panel and, as late as Thursday, the state Supreme Court. "I thought the case for guilt was strong," said Kent Scheidegger, a death-penalty supporter and legal director at the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a victims' rights group.

"His story that somebody else did it, but wouldn't say who, was a transparent lie." Childhood abuse no excuse Davis also was unmoved by Siripongs' hard-luck story. He was born in a Thai brothel and physically abused; his parents divorced when he was young. He grew up with no running water and no electricity in a compound teeming with rats. In 1975, he was involved in a department store robbery. He was caught and shot in the head.

"He began to keep the company of juvenile delinquents and persons of questionable character," Davis wrote. Siripongs was released from juvenile detention early for good behavior and went on to study to be a Buddhist monk, getting a certificate after three months and placing fourth among a class of 38. But he soon left the monastery, getting a job as a cook on a cargo ship where he met up with an old acquaintance who proposed a drug-smuggling scheme. Siripongs ended up going to U.S. authorities and participating in a sting opera A SAAB TEST No Negatiye RequiiiiSI NIKON Outfit I PENTAX fT Automaticmanual modes.Advanced fina Out fcJLJ autofocus system reducing flash.

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For The Stor Vou, 1aa.M4-WOLf ONE HOUR FILM DEVELOPINGI 2nd Sal Of Print FHFEI- Wolf pack Mmbr Alto Racalv If On N60 Zoom exposure with "red-eye" 7 I 1 A ll 'III I I atora EXPERTISE www.wolfcamera.com Picture tion that netted him enough money to buy passage to the United States. "It appears that Mr. Siripongs had a difficult life in Thailand," Davis said. "But his experience is probably not unique to him. No doubt, other of his countrymen have overcome equal if not greater hardships and gone on to lead constructive lives.

An abused and difficult childhood, while regrettable, does not justify illegal behavior much less double murder." Ultimately, though, Davis said he was moved by a "direct, honest and eloquent" letter written to him Jan. 19 by Vipa Mary Harisdang-kul, the daughter of Wattanaporn, the murdered shop manager. Davis quoted her letter extensively in his clemency denial. "I know that the Thai government has been trying to help Mr. Siripongs and, to tell you the truth, I am hurt that they never considered my feelings," Harisdangkul wrote.

"They never bothered to find out my mother's background. They didn't know that she was not wealthy and that she sweated for every penny she earned. They don't care that she was deprived of living the better life she always worked for." Second denial of clemency Davis said he respected the views of Wattanaporn's husband, who favored clemency because he is a Buddhist. All other immediate family members of the victims, however, were opposed to clemency. Saturday was the second time Siripongs' request for clemency was denied.

In November, just six hours before Siripongs was scheduled to die, a federal judge stopped the execution. The court later ordered a new hearing because the Wilson administration, when it denied clemency, did not inform defense attorneys that they could show evidence of an accomplice. Family members of the murder victims want the legal maneuvering to stop. Vitoon Harusadangkul, the son of shopkeeper Wattanaporn, wrote Davis last week: "For God's sake, this case has been through so many appeals and every single jury has convicted, and every judge sentenced him to death. Isn't that enough? How patient must family members of the victims be?" DRIVE buy one.

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