Calambro's TV defense ridiculed

CARSON CITY -- The notion that condemned killer Alvaro Calambro should be spared because the TV cartoons he watched as a kid left him unable to understand death is nonsensical, according to Washoe County Assistant District Attorney David Stanton.

The cartoon defense has been put forward by Washoe Public Defender Michael Specchio, who says the 25-year-old Calambro is confused because of such cartoons as Roadrunner, where characters get hit on their heads but always bounce back or wake up somewhere else.

This defense will have another two weeks to be debated, as the Nevada Supreme Court on Friday night ordered a two-week stay of Calambro's execution. He had been scheduled to die Saturday at 9 p.m.

Having prosecuted Calambro for the two brutal murders that landed him on death row and having read every interview and court transcript, Stanton says there has never been any factually based report confirming any of the claims Specchio is making.

Stanton also rejects the claim being made by federal public defender Michael Pescetta, who has said Calambro thinks he will become a vampire when executed.

A district judge now has the difficult task in the next two weeks of getting answers from Calambro, who has refused to say anything except that he doesn't want to talk.

Calambro pleaded guilty to the January 1994 fatal beating of U-Haul employees Peggy Crawford and Keith Christopher during a $2,400 robbery of the Reno business. Calambro's crime partner, Duc Huynh, who also received the death penalty, hanged himself in prison.

Just 28 hours before the execution, the Supreme Court, with three of its members -- Charles Springer, Miriam Shearing and Cliff Young -- in Hawaii attending a convention of the Nevada State Bar Association, stayed the execution and ordered District Judge Steve Elliott of Reno to question Calambro.

Elliott was told to ask Calambro whether he understands he is about to be put to death, if he understands why he is headed for execution, and if he wants to waive any further legal challenges and be put to death. He was also told to inform Calambro that he is entitled to a stay if he wants to proceed with a second round of appeals.

Calambro was asked the same questions and given the same information Thursday by U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben, but he refused to answer.

Lydia Calambro, Alvaro Calambro's mother, has attempted to stop the execution by means of a legal option known as a "next friend" petition. Her petition contends that her son is mentally incompetent.

The Supreme Court said if Calambro declines to talk it is an indication that he wants to go forward with the execution. At that point, Judge Elliott can permit Lydia Calambro to offer proof that her son is not mentally capable of waiving his appeal and not competent to be executed.

During an interview with the Sun Friday afternoon, Stanton predicted that Calambro would escape execution Saturday night.

"Mr. Calambro deserves to die more than anyone else I've ever prosecuted," he said, recalling the heinous murders of Christopher and Crawford. "But some federal court will enter a stay ... it's an aberration of justice."

Calambro was judged mentally competent two years ago before he appeared before a three-judge panel that set his sentence as death. At that time he said he wanted to die, but attorneys convinced him to launch a first-round, full-scale appeal, which failed.

Specchio represented Calambro in prior court appeals. And now Pescetta is handling the case on behalf of the mother, who met last Tuesday with her son for the first time in two years at the state prison in Carson City.

Pescetta has claimed that Calambro is mentally impaired with an IQ of 71 and believes he will become a vampire when he is executed. Stanton said Pescetta's claims have never been proven in court.

The Supreme Court ordered Elliott to handle the case within two weeks. Senior Deputy Attorney General David Sarnowski suggested this could be taken care of quickly, noting any ruling by Elliott will go to the Nevada Supreme Court and eventually into the federal court system.

So it could be months or even years before a new death date is set for Calambro, who came to this country from the Philippines at the age of 9. The Philippines government also had asked for a stay of execution so a representative could talk to Calambro.

The last execution in Nevada was that of Richard Moran, who died March 30, 1996. There are 88 inmates on death row.

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