SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The judge overseeing the Golden State Killer case will not allow surveillance video of convicted killer Joseph DeAngelo from inside his cell to be played at his sentencing hearing on Friday.
According to Kim Pedersen, the public information officer for Sacramento County Superior Court, prosecutors filed a motion on August 12 seeking to play the video that purportedly shows DeAngelo to be able-bodied, and not the weak, feeble man seen being pushed in and out of court in a wheelchair.
The prosecution wished to present the video on Friday, but Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman refused, saying the court has already accepted DeAngelo’s guilty plea and it is already a matter of public record and determined by the court that he is competent enough to serve his sentence.
Although the video won't be showed to the public, Bowman said he will allow it to be presented to the state probation department should DeAngelo seek a compassionate release at some point in the future.
More than 30 survivors of the Golden State Killer are scheduled to read victim impact statements every day this week starting Tuesday and leading up to DeAngelo’s sentencing on Friday.
Statements are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at the Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse on 9th Street in Sacramento. DeAngelo’s sentence will be handed down inside the main ballroom at Sacramento State University. The sentencing hearing begins at 9 a.m.
DeAngelo was arrested on April 24, 2018, at his Citrus Heights home after DNA evidence linked him to crimes attributed to the Golden State Killer, East Area Rapist, Original Nightstalker, and others. In all, he pleaded guilty in June to 13 counts of murder, 13 counts of kidnapping, and 62 rapes.
We will live stream all victim impact statements, as well as the sentencing, on ABC10, ABC10.com, and on our social media platforms.