Reprieve for 737 on California death row

THE US state with the largest number of death row inmates is to impose a moratorium on executions.

California governor Gavin Newsom has announced plans to sign an executive order blocking capital punishment.

It will also withdraw the state’s lethal injection protocol and close the execution chamber at San Quentin prison, his office said. California has 737 inmates on death row but has not imposed capital punishment since 2006.

Mr Newsom, a Democrat, said: ‘It is inconsistent with our bedrock values and strikes at the very heart of what it means to be a Californian.

‘The intentional killing of another person is wrong. And as governor, I will not oversee the execution of any individual.’

Donald Trump said Mr Newsom was ‘defying voters’ in halting the death penalty for ‘stone cold killers’.