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Capital punishment is authorized in California state Penal Code.
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Jose Gabriel, accused of murdering a couple, is hanged at San Quentin State Prison. It is the first state-conducted execution.
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Lethal gas replaces hanging as method of execution.
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Robert L. Cannon and Albert Kessell, convicted of the murder of Warden Clarence Larkin, are the first to be executed by lethal gas at San Quentin State Prison.
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Eithel Leta Juanita Spinelli is the first woman to be exeucted by lethal gas in the state of California.
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The 215 and final execution by hanging occurs at San Quentin State Prison.
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Aaron Mitchell, convicted of killing an officer during robbery, becomes the 194 person executed by lethal gas, and the last person executed until 1992.
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California Supreme Court rules that the death penalty is unconstitutional. 107 inmates are taken off condemned status (death row) and resentencd.
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California State Legislature reenacts the death penalty statute.
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California voters approve Proposition 7, a law that replaces the 1977 statute and expands the number of crimes punishable by the death penalty.
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Robert Alton Harris, convicted of murdering two teenagers in San Diego, is executed by lethal gas. First state-conducted execution since 1967.
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California law adds lethal injection to methods of execution. Inmates are now allowed to choose lethal injection or lethal gas.
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US Judge rules that execution by gas is cruel and unusual punishment, and therefore unconstitutional. Lethal injection becomes the new method of execution.
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William Bonin, convicted of murdering 14 boys, becomes the first California inmate executed by lethal injection.
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Clarence Ray Allen is executed by lethal injectin at San Quentin State Prison. He is the state's most recent execution.