SAN FRANCISCO – Lawyers for a death row inmate, including former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr, sent fake letters from jurors asking California’s governor to spare the man’s life, prosecutors said Friday.
The jurors denied they thought Michael Morales deserved clemency, because some of the testimony at his trial may have been fabricated, said Nathan Barankin, spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
“We showed each person the declaration on their behalf, and they all said they didn’t say that,” Barankin said.
San Joaquin County prosecutor Charles Schultz also said the letters sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week were “untrue” and “pure fiction.”
Starr was not immediately available for comment, said a spokeswoman for the Pepperdine School of Law, where Starr is the dean.
Morales’ other clemency attorney, David Senior from Los Angeles, said he stood by the validity of the six sworn statements he and Starr sent to the governor. He suggested that the jurors might have gotten cold feet when they were contacted by prosecutors in the last two days.
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