Death sentence overturned for 74-year-old - His defense wasn't competent, says appeals court in S.F.

The death sentence of the 2nd-oldest prisoner on California's death row was overturned Friday by a federal appeals court.

 Fred Berre Douglas, who was sentenced to death for murdering two teenage girls in 1982, did not receive competent representation during his trial, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Douglas' attorney, the court said, failed to investigate and tell the jury about his abusive childhood, his mental health and his actions as a Marine in helping save 2 sailors from drowning.

 That evidence might have persuaded at least 1 juror to spare the life of the Orange County man, the 3-judge panel said.

 Douglas, at 74, is the 2nd-oldest of the 617 prisoners on California's death row. The oldest is Raymond Johns, 78, of San Jose, sentenced to death in 1995 for strangling his wife in 1980 and his girlfriend in 1989. His appeal is pending before the state Supreme Court.

 Friday's ruling allows a new penalty trial to decide whether Douglas will again be sentenced to death or receive life without parole.

 A defense lawyer said he doubts that Douglas will be retried.

 "Based on his age and the evidence that wasn't presented, I think it would be very difficult to get a death penalty at this point," said attorney Mark Overland. "Economically, (a retrial) makes no sense."

 The state's lawyer in the case was unavailable for comment.

 The ruling is the latest in a recent series of reversals of death sentences by the federal court, which has rejected 11 of the last 13 California death verdicts it has considered.

 Douglas, of Garden Grove, was convicted of murdering Beth Jones, 19, and Margaret Kreuger, 16, both of Anaheim. A prosecution witness who testified under a grant of immunity said he and Douglas drove the girls to the desert near Indio, where Douglas had promised to pay them for posing for nude photos. He said Douglas ordered the girls bound, then killed them, cutting one girl's throat with a razor blade and clubbing the other with a rifle.

 Douglas denied guilt, but the prosecution produced witnesses who said he had attempted similar crimes in the past.

 Douglas refused to cooperate in psychiatric tests before his trial. But the court said his lawyer could have found records of a 1977 psychological exam that diagnosed him as mentally ill and suffering from the effects of a 1967 head injury, alcoholism and longtime exposure to toxic solvents in his furniture refinishing business.

 Jurors also never heard that Douglas was kept locked in a closet for long periods by his foster father, was beaten and gang-raped in a Florida jail cell at age 15, earned medals and commendations as a Marine and helped save 2 men's lives, the court said.

"The gruesome nature of the killing did not necessarily mean the death penalty was unavoidable," said Judge Michael Hawkins.