Polly Klaas’ father, Mark Klaas, described the attempt by her convicted killer to overturn his death sentence as a “travesty of justice.”
“I couldn’t be happier. … It’s exactly what I wanted to hear,” Klaas told Fox News Digital about a California judge’s decision Friday to deny Richard Allen Davis’ request for resentencing. “I thought the judge was fantastic. Judge Williams did exactly what needed to be done and stopped this case. … I don’t think he wanted to be the guy who jumped into the third rail with Richard Allen Davis. This is a guy who’s not in anybody’s interest to be resentenced.”
San Quentin State Prison inmate Richard Allen Davis kidnapped 12-year-old Polly (now known as the internet’s first missing girl) from her sleepover at knifepoint in 1996, then Strangling her 1993.
Sonoma County Judge Benjamin Williams on Friday morning denied Davis’ petition to overturn his death sentence. The killer was granted a new trial nearly 30 years after his conviction due to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2019 moratorium on executions in the state. Newsom’s moratorium on executions means that no one in the state can be executed while he is governor.
California judge rejects Polly Klaas’ killer’s request to overturn death sentence
Richard Allen Davis, an inmate at San Quentin State Prison, was sentenced to death for abducting Pollie from a sleepover party and strangling her to death at knifepoint. (Klaas Kids)
“Frankly, this is a travesty of justice. 28 years ago, he was sentenced to death and that was the end of it,” Klaas said. “Today, I’m totally happy with the system that exists. I’m happy with the appeals process. If the appeals court had found reasons why he should be resentenced…I would have been disappointed, but I would have understood. This is a whole other story.”
“This is an entirely new law that retroactively modifies sentences for people where special circumstances were a factor in their sentence.”
Davis allegedly broke into a slumber party at Polly’s mother’s home in Petaluma, California, and bound and blindfolded two of Polly’s friends before abducting the 12-year-old girl.
The child abduction and murder case that changed the American legal system
Polly Klaas’ disappearance was widely reported in newspapers and on television across the country, and became known as the first well-known missing persons case to spread via the Internet in 1993, when computers began to become widespread. (Polly Claes Foundation)
The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office initially denied Davis’ request for resentencing and ultimately succeeded in persuading the judge to uphold the death sentence. The district attorney’s office released a statement Friday following Judge Williams’ decision, noting that Davis’ conviction had already been upheld on appeal in 2009.
“The only people who benefit from this behavior that’s happening in California’s criminal justice system are criminals.”
Senate Bill 483 allows defendants who have received a one-year extension to their sentence due to a previous conviction to seek a new trial or resentencing. Davis sought a full resentencing, including a new jury trial on the death penalty, based on the two-year extension in his case, but the court ultimately denied his request after a hearing in April, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Mark Klaas said the rise of the internet and social media has “changed the way the public and police respond to missing children.” (Polly Claes Foundation)
“We are pleased with the Court’s decision, as we believe the relief sought by the defense in this hearing goes far beyond the Legislature’s intent when it enacted SB 483. Unfortunately, this sentence is strictly limited to murder offenses that carry the death penalty. Any sentence currently served in California remains at risk if it includes prior one-year sentences for non-capital murder, rape, torture and child sexual assault offenses,” District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said in a statement Friday.
Rodriguez continued, “What’s even more troubling is that this particular bill is not an anomaly, but rather part of a larger movement by many current lawmakers to overturn sentences and convictions that have been handed down by courts and juries over decades. I believe wholeheartedly in the importance of thoughtful criminal justice reform, but too often what we’ve seen recently in Sacramento has simply been shortsighted. Our victims and the families of victims deserve better.”
Polly Klaas’ father, Mark Klaas, stands outside Santa Clara County Superior Court on May 31, 2024 in San Jose, California. (AP Photo/Nick Cooley)
Klaas said he filed a public records request with California to see how many other convicted offenders are eligible to be resentenced under Governor Newsom’s 2019 law. More than 9,000 names were received in response. Now, Klaas wants other victims’ families to know they can go through the same process.
Newsom’s office previously shared the comments with Fox News Digital when the governor issued a moratorium on executions in March 2019, when California had 737 people on death row.
Polly Klaas’ father calls Governor Newsom a ‘pig’ over death penalty moratorium
Polly Claas was kidnapped at knifepoint and strangled at a sleepover party in 1993. (Polly Claes Foundation)
“Intentionally killing another person is wrong, and as Governor, I will not oversee the execution of any individual,” Newsom said in a statement. “Our nation’s death penalty system has failed on every level.”
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“The death penalty discriminates against defendants with mental illness, Black and Brown defendants, and defendants who cannot afford the high costs of legal representation. It provides no public safety benefit or deterrent value. It wastes billions of taxpayer dollars. And above all, the death penalty is absolute; it is irreversible and unrepairable in the event of human error.”
Richard Allen Davis appeared in Sonoma County District Court in Santa Rosa, California on December 7, 1993. (Paul Sakuma/File)
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press release Newsom’s office The release noted that California is one of four states, along with Pennsylvania, Colorado and Oregon, that have issued a moratorium on executions. Since 1978, California has spent $5 billion on its death penalty system and executed a total of 13 people, the release said.
Pollie’s disappearance was widely reported in newspapers and on television across the country, and became known as the first well-known missing person case to spread via the Internet in 1993, when computers began to become popular.
