Gov. Pete Wilson's campaign, in its most direct attempt yet to link Democrat Kathleen Brown to the legacy of her older brother, unveiled a television ad Friday that says Brown holds "the same position on the death penalty as her brother, Jerry Brown."

Television viewers are left to guess at precisely what that position is. The ad says only that former governor Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. "appointed dangerously lenient judges like Chief Justice Rose Bird, who voted to overturn 68 out of 68 death sentences."

It concludes: "With the same view on capital punishment as Jerry Brown and with close ties to the criminal defense lawyers, Kathleen Brown will appoint more lenient judges. In times like these, can we afford the risk?"

The ad provoked outrage in the Brown campaign, where press secretary John Whitehurst accused Wilson of "using symbols from the past to falsely characterize her position" and called the ad "misleading, unfair and cynical." Brown has said that despite her personal opposition to capital punishment, she would carry it out if elected governor.

"In terms of her judicial appointments," Whitehurst said, "the qualification is that they will uphold the law. Period."

Brown's brother also called the ad deceptive propaganda.

During his two terms as governor, he said, his views were similar to his sister's current stand--despite his personal objections, he did not rule out the death penalty and vowed to make decisions on a case-by-case basis. (He never had to make such a decision as governor because the state's death penalty law had been declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court).

But in recent years, Jerry Brown said, he has taken a harder line that distinguishes him from his sister.

"I don't believe the death penalty is right. It is basically a device by which people like Wilson intimidate the population and keep themselves in power," he said Friday. "My sister is her own person. She's got her own perspective. My ideas and my thoughts are separate.

"My father (former Gov. Edmund G. (Pat) Brown Sr.) opposed the death penalty and executed more people than Wilson and (former Gov. George) Deukmejian times a factor of 15. So being against it doesn't necessarily mean that you can't carry it out," he said, adding: "If Wilson's so anxious to discuss these things, why doesn't he debate her?"