Execution of Killer-Rapist Is Delayed

The execution was delayed because Warden Steven Ornoski decided that he wanted two anesthesiologists to undergo additional training "in order to understand their roles and the expectations," said prison spokesman Vernell Crittinton.

"The warden is not at a level of comfort at this moment," said Crittinton, who noted that the death warrant for Morales calls for the execution within 24 hours of 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

When asked if Morales had been informed of the delay, Crittinton said: "At this point he has not been informed. If we decide that it can't be done in 24 hours, he will be told."

Prison spokeswoman Sarah Ludeman said that if the execution did not occur within 24 hours of 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, a judge would have to set another date.

Early Tuesday, defense attorney David Senior said that he had serious concerns that the prison was not adhering to the judge's order, which vaguely called for prison officials to provide conditions and equipment "normally used in medical settings."

"We're expecting an EKG and blood pressure monitors in the room at their disposal," he said, referring to the anesthesiologists. "Can you imagine an anesthesiologist working in this day and age without those things?"

He said that the defense team had asked the judge for a stay, but that the prison officials opted for a delay for additional training for the doctors.

The anticipated execution at San Quentin State Prison followed a last-minute clemency campaign fraught with controversy and highly unusual legal twists and turns.

Morales, 46, was convicted of the brutal 1981 slaying of Terri Winchell, a 17-year-old Lodi high school senior. He admitted conspiring with his cousin, Rick Ortega, to kill Winchell as payback for her dating Ortega's bisexual lover. But he said he accepted responsibility for the crime and was deeply remorseful.

He was set to become the 14th man and the first Latino executed by the state of California since capital punishment was reinstated in 1978.

He also was to be the third inmate executed in California in 10 weeks, and the fifth to whom Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has denied clemency since he took office two years ago.