ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, June 19, 1996 TAG: 9606190069
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SAN JOSE, CALIF.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Richard Allen Davis made an obscene gesture as he was convicted Tuesday of kidnapping and murdering 12-year-old Polly Klaas in a verdict that makes him eligible for the death penalty.
The jury found Davis guilty on all counts, including all four of the special circumstances that makes him eligible for capital punishment.Polly's family sat holding hands as a court clerk read the verdicts.
Davis, his shirt hanging out of his belt, turned to the television cameras and raised the middle fingers on both of his hands. It wasn't clear whether jurors saw the gesture, but the gallery did, including Polly's family.
``He was showing us what he is, just a contemptible little punk who's been flipping off society since Day One,'' said Polly's father, Marc Klaas.
Davis, 42, was found guilty of murdering Polly after abducting her at knifepoint from her Petaluma bedroom as she played with two other girls during a slumber party on Oct. 1, 1993.
He confessed and led police to Polly's body two months later.The arrest of Davis, who had spent most of his life behind bars and was paroled only three months before the kidnapping, fueled the drive for California's ``three-strikes'' law mandating long sentences for repeat offenders.
After the verdict, President Clinton called Polly's father.
``This doesn't make up for the past but our thoughts are with you,'' Clinton told him. ``You have withstood a lot and the country owes you a debt of gratitude.''
The jurors, who returned the verdicts a week after beginning deliberations, will return on July 1 to decide whether Davis should be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison without parole.
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Davis.by CNB