San Diego court hearing marks end to Kevin Cooper's appeal

SAN DIEGO -- During a court hearing here today, an attorney for death row inmate Kevin Cooper called Cooper "an innocent man" and told a federal judge that executing him would be unconstitutional.

Norman Hile's comments came during a largely administerial hearing in U.S. District Court to acknowledge that the U.S. Supreme Court's denied Cooper's request to intervene in his case last month.

To mount a new appeal of his murder convictions and death sentence for four brutal ax killings in Chino Hills in 1983, Cooper would likely need to discover new evidence supporting his innocence claims or his contention that his trial was unfair.

"If anyone has any information about the crimes or anything else that happened, please come forward," Hile said in an interview.

During today's hearing, an attorney for the state Attorney General's Office told U.S. District Judge Marilyn Huff that the state has a moratorium on executions in place due to a federal judge's concerns that its method of lethal injection may not be humane.

Deputy Attorney General Holly Wilkens said the state is not prepared to set an execution date for Cooper.

Wilkens told Huff that the California Department of Corrections is expected to complete its execution protocol by May, and the state may then resume executions, which have been on hold since 2006. The new protocol is expected to be challenged in court.

Hile told Huff that he reserves the right to file additional challenges to Cooper's conviction.

In 2005, following a review of evidence, Huff upheld Cooper's convictions, denying a petition in which he claimed he was not responsible for the killings.

Hile said after the hearing that he will continue to seek evidence to support Cooper's assertion that he is innocent, "in hope that we can prove that before he's executed."

Hile declined to comment when asked whether any witnesses have come forward with new information since the U.S. Supreme Court's declined to intervene in the case last month.