PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — As Oregon death row inmate Gary Haugen fights a reprieve, he has a supporter in Marion County District Attorney Walt Beglau whose office won the death penalty conviction.
Haugen wants to be executed and has asked a circuit court to rule that Gov. John Kitzhaber’s reprieve is legally ineffective because Haugen doesn’t accept it.
Beglau told The Oregonian (http://is.gd/4yRfoM) that’s the central issue in the case. Beglau says he disagrees with Kitzhaber’s reprieve and won’t defend it. The Oregon Justice Department will.
Haugen was sentenced to die for killing another inmate in prison. The governor is opposed to capital punishment.
