◆ SpookStack

Jones to DeLoach Memorandum Re: Governor Brown,‘ 9-2-60 JAMES MERKOURIS On 9-20-54, Mrs. Despine Forbes and her second husband, Robert, Forbes, were shot and killed in their ceramics shop in Los Angeles. James Merkouris “age 40, Mrs. Forbes' first husband, was arrested five days later in Arkansas for the _ crime, In February, 1955, in Los Angeles, Merkouris was tried for the murder of his former wife. He was convicted and on 4-11-55, was sentenced to death in the gas chamber. _ Merkouris' conviction was automatically appealed to the State Supreme Cou1 His conviction was reversed by the State Supreme Court on grounds of ! error in instructions to the jury and because Merkouris was permitted to withdraw an : insanity plea over the objections of his attorneys. On 8-10-56, Merkouris was retried to determine his sanity. During the trial, Merkouris went into violent rages, smashec ‘a chair_in the courtroom and had to be ‘strapped to a metal chair in a glass and metal "isolation booth."* On 9-13-56, a jury found him insane and he was incarcerated at_ Atascadero State Mental Hospital in California. In August, 1957, Merkouris was declé ed "not presently insane" by authorities at the hospital. vee ome At an arraignment on 8-26-57, as a preliminary to retrial, Merkouris struggled, shouted, cursed, smashed microphones and a water cooler before being | -estrained. The retrial was postponed pending additional mental examinations and Merkouris was again declared sane in March, 1958. His retrial on the murcer charge involving his former wife began on 6-16-58, and on 7-30-58, the jury found him guilty . and decreed that he should die in the gas chamber,, On 7-31-58, the trial was continuc 1 ae ‘ to determine the defense's plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. On 8-13-58, the | ery found Merkouris to be sane at the time he committed the murders. Merkouris w: received at San Quentin's Death Row on 10-16-58. ! é Merkouris' conviction was reviewed by the State Supreme Court, and iu October, 1959, the Court denied a rehearing. On 10-27-59, Los Angeles Superior Judge Lewis Drucker, set the date of 1-21-60 for Merkouris' execution. On 1-21-69, Governor Brown commuted Merkouris' death sentence to life imprisonment without — possibility of parole, In explaining the commutation, Brown said that a majority of , State Supreme Court justices and the trial judge had recommended that the death pen< ‘not be carried out. He said there was still a grave and unresolved question of Merko sanity, and noted that twenty-one psychiatrists were unable to agree during the two t: On 1-22-60, Markouris was transferred from San Quentin to Vacaville California, and on 2-18-60, he was incarcerated at the California ledical Facility a ‘Vacaville where he is presently confined. _ \/ 4 } At sald | EWD o . -ib-