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Rush Griffin

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1934–35 California capital case

Rush Griffin in San Quentin prison record book

Rush Griffin (c. 1916, Mississippi – April 5, 1935) was an American convicted killer who was executed at San Quentin prison by the state of California despite the fact that a stay of execution had been issued by a court.

Griffin and Willie Smith had both confessed to the killing of USC Medical School student Laurence Lyon during an attempted robbery November 12, 1934, at "9th and Hemlock" or Ninth and Central. Griffin was sentenced to death and hanged on the San Quentin gallows on April 5, 1935. The execution came to the known as the "error hanging". The clerk responsible for failing to correctly process the appeal documents and court communications for the prison warden was suspended for 30 days without pay.

According to an article by Judge Arthur Alarcón, as a result of Griffin's execution without full due process, a California legislative "committee recommended that legislation be enacted providing for an automatic appeal in all cases where the trial court ordered a sentence of death. As a result, section 1239 was amended to provide that 'hen...a judgment of death is rendered, an appeal is automatically taken by the defendant.' The right to an automatic appeal 'imposes a duty upon court 'to make an examination of the complete record of the proceedings had in the trial court, to the end that it be ascertained whether defendant was given a fair trial.' The court 'cannot avoid or abdicate this duty merely because defendant desires to waive the right provided for him'."

References

  1. "Entry for Rush Griffin, 05 Apr 1935". California Death Index, 1905–1939. FamilySearch.
  2. "Department of Corrections. San Quentin State Prison Records, 1850–1950. ID #R135, California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California". Ancestry.com. Name: Rush Griffin - Birth Date: abt 1916 - Birth Place: Mississippi - Record Date: 26 Jan 1935 - Place of Crime: Los Angeles, California, USA a Institution Place: San Quentin, Marin, California, USA - Age: 19 - Prisoner Number: 57188
  3. Rasmussen, Cecilia (June 17, 2007). "Oversight led to automatic appeals in death row cases". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  4. "Article clipped from California Eagle". California Eagle. November 16, 1934. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  5. "Student's Slayers Demand New Trial". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. January 15, 1935. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  6. "Negro Killer Hanged". Ventura County Star. April 6, 1935. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  7. "Griffin Plea Note Shown". The Los Angeles Times. April 16, 1935. p. 19. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  8. "Prison Data Made Public". The Los Angeles Times. April 16, 1935. p. 28. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  9. Alarcón, Arthur L. (May 4, 2007). "Remedies for California's Death Row Deadlock". Southern California Law Review. ISSN 0038-3910. Retrieved 2024-05-29.


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