BAKERSFIELD, CA - A Bakersfield man is headed to death row. Erran West is the first in the state to be sentenced to the maximum since a district court ruled capital punishment is unconstitutional.
The Kern County District Attorney's Office says the district court's ruling applies to the case in the appeal, not necessarily all death penalty cases.
West was convicted of six counts, including two counts first degree murder earlier this year. West shot and killed 43-year-old Ernastine Trejo and 58-year-old Levon Vines over money in 2010.
The prosecutor said up until trial there was a plea deal on the table for life without the possibility of parole. But, West refused even though an eyewitness testified to both killings.
While we do not know why West made this decision, some speculate better conditions on death row and a low likelihood of execution, mean a death sentence is better than life.
"It's hard to get inside of the mind of somebody like Erran West," said Jim Simson, Kern County Deputy District Attorney. "You know whether or not there were factors that he weighed and balanced or he relied on the advice of somebody else, whether or not the death penalty was a sufficient threat to him."
From the district court ruling we know the execution rate in California is low. Since 1978, 900 people have been sentenced to death, but only 13 have been executed. The last was in 2006. The always lingering slight possibility of death is the reason a judge ruled the death penalty in California is unconstitutional.
West will join 24 other death row inmates from Kern County.