Judge Sets Execution Date For Riverside Murderer

A Sept. 29 execution date was set today for a man who raped and murdered a Riverside teenager nearly 30 years ago.

Albert Greenwood Brown’s death warrant was signed by Riverside Superior Court Judge Roger A. Luebs. His execution will take place at San Quentin State Prison.

“Justice has been delayed for 30 years since Susan Jordan was murdered,” Chief Assistant District Attorney William Mitchell said. “It’s time we moved forward with this.”

Brown’s attorney’s filed a request for an emergency stay, but it was denied Friday by the California Supreme Court, clearing the way for Luebs to set an execution date.

Brown grabbed 15-year-old Susan Jordan in October 1980, as she walked along Victoria Avenue on her way to Arlington High School in Riverside, and raped and murdered the teenager.

Brown then called the girl’s parents and told them they would never see their daughter alive again and could find her in a particular orange grove.

Brown had been paroled from state prison just four months earlier for the 1977 rape of a 14-year-old girl.

He was convicted of the older girl’s rape and murder in 1982 and sentenced to death.

With the state Supreme Court’s action, all of Brown’s state and federal appeals and habeas corpus issues have been exhausted, District Attorney Rod Pacheco said.

Defense attorney Jan. B Norman argued that the execution should be put off for another month, saying the procedures for lethal injection are under federal review for possible Eighth Amendment violations.

“It’s very likely maybe some of these issues will be resolved,” Norman said.

The judge said he was allowed to set the execution date as soon as 30 days and no later than 60 days after the D.A. filed a request for a death warrant. The execution date he set is the earliest possible by law.

Norman said she will continue to fight for her client’s life by filing a clemency petition. She has only until Sept. 7 to do so.

“The idea of preparing a petition for clemency in eight days is basically impossible,” she said, adding she needed to review old records and interview the defendant and his family.

The judge defended his decision for the relatively early execution date.

“Everybody wants more time,” he said. “At the end of the day, Sept. 29 is a reasonable date.”