Richard Allen Davis, convicted of killing Polly Klaas in 1993, seeks to have death sentence overturned
SAN JOSE – More than three decades after 12-year-old Polly Klaas of Petaluma was kidnapped and murdered, the man convicted of killing her is seeking to overturn his death sentence.
Lawyers representing Richard Allen Davis were in a Santa Clara County courtroom Friday. Davis was convicted of killing Polly and sentenced to death in 1996.
But because of a California law that took effect in 2022, Davis is now trying to have his death sentence overturned.
Federal public defenders argued that Senate Bill 483–which invalidates sentencing enhancements for some prior convictions for nonviolent and drug convictions—should be applied to Davis's case.
A Sonoma County prosecutor said granting Davis a whole new penalty phase trial is outside the scope of what the law intended.
Davis did not attend Friday's hearing.
Marc Klaas, Polly's father, never thought he would have to be back in a Santa Clara County courthouse to relive the horrific case of how his daughter was kidnapped at knifepoint, sexually assaulted, and murdered.
"It's been terrible. I believe that 28 years ago, you and I stood almost exactly the same place, and I might have said something to the effect that this is finally over," Klaas told CBS News Bay Area on Friday. "Yet here we are 30 years later."
The judge said he'll take time to consider the law and the arguments he heard Friday. The court's ruling is scheduled for May 31.
In 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order placing a moratorium on the state's use of the death penalty.