Supreme Court delays execution

Friday, June 12, 1998 | 6:39 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court Friday stayed the Saturday execution of double murderer Alvara Calambro and ordered a lower court hearing to determine if he is sane.

The stay was issued 28 hours before the 9 p.m. death date for the 25-year-old Calambro, who has refused to file further appeals in the case. Calambro's mother Lydia has started a last ditch effort, contending her son is not mentally capable of waiving his appeal rights.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Michael Pescetta told reporters the stay and the order for a hearing was what he has been seeking all along. "This gives us a hearing we're entitled to."

Senior Deputy Attorney General David Sarnowski said that Calambro's behavior in federal court Thursday indicates he is capable of understanding what he is doing in waiving his rights.

Calambro sat in federal court Thursday and remained silent when asked more than 15 questions posed by U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben who wanted to know if he desired to go forward with the execution or if he wanted to delay the date for his lethal injection.

Calambro pleaded guilty to the killing of employees Peggy Crawford and Keith Christopher during a $2,400 robbery of a U-Haul business in Reno in January 1994. An accomplice Duc Huynh also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to death. But Huynh hanged himself in prison.

Calambro originally said he wanted to die and did not want an appeal. But defense attorneys convinced him to go forward with his appeals. Those were denied. Calambro is entitled to a second round of appeals in which his death sentence would be delayed, but he has declined to start those.

The Supreme Court members were scattered on Friday. Three justices, Charles Springer, Cliff Young and Miriam Shearing were attending the convention of the State Bar of Nevada which is meeting in Maui, Hawaii. Justices Bob Rose and Bill Maupin were in Nevada.

But they filed the stay order shortly before 5 p.m. It reverses the finding of District Judge Steve Elliott of Reno that Calambro's mother cannot bring an appeal on behalf of her son.

The Supreme Court said Mrs. Calambro must now prove her son is mentally incompetent to allow her to act in his behalf. The court gave Elliott two weeks to hold the hearing and make the decision.

The court, in its unanimous decision said, "A condemned person is sane if aware of his impending execution and the reason for it." Sarnowski said under that standard Calambro is competent and he said the execution would be quickly rescheduled.

The Supreme Court ordered Judge Elliott to question Calambro whether he understands that he is about to be put to death; whether he understands why he is being put to death; if he knows he can file additional appeals and if he wants to forgo any further legal challenges.

Sarnowski noted that any decision by Elliott would be appealed back to the Supreme Court and it sometimes takes months and even years for the court to render a decision.

McKibben, the federal judge, had heard arguments on the sanity issue Thursday. But he withheld a ruling to allow the Nevada Supreme Court to act. He had set the deadline for the Supreme Court to act by 4 p.m. Friday. But no ruling had been made by that time.

McKibben, who indicated he might stay the execution, then waited until 5 p.m. when the Nevada Supreme Court issued its order delaying the execution. He called the court back into session and said the case before him would be continued.

He also told attorneys that in the next round of appeals, he didn't want them to wait 24 to 48 before the execution to make their moves. He said that doesn't result in a fair hearing.