California Inmate Wants To Die

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A California death row inmate imprisoned for 21 years dropped his appeals Monday, setting the stage for a rare execution in the state with the largest number of condemned inmates. Robert Massie, 59, could be executed within months for the 1979 murder of a San Francisco liquor store owner. U.S. District Court Judge Charles Legge dismissed Massie's federal appeals late Monday. The judge has already ruled Massie competent to quit fighting his conviction, and gave Massie until Monday to change his mind. Massie said that he would rather die than continue living a ``lingering death'' on death row in San Quentin. However, execution may not come quickly. San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan, who opposes the death penalty, said he will not ask a county judge to schedule an execution. The state attorney general's office, which is seeking Massie's execution, said it will meet with Hallinan this week to resolve the impasse, spokeswoman Sandra Michioku said. Massie's lawyer, Frederick D. Baker, said his client told him Monday that he ``opposes any effort by any third party to intervene'' in an effort to keep him alive.Of nearly 600 condemned men and women in California, eight inmates have been executed since 1978, the year capital punishment was reinstated. The last execution was in March 2000.