The 9th U

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday morning granted a request for an 11-judge rehearing of the case. It would be California's 1st execution in 2 years. In his 1st such act as governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger denied clemency for Cooper. Cooper, who was convicted in the 1983 hacking deaths of four people, was scheduled to be executed just after midnight at San Quentin Prison after 19 years on death row. Cooper has gained support from such actors who oppose the death penalty as Washington, Sean Penn and Mike Farrell, and from Jackson and Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. In addition, three of the jurors who convicted Cooper called for a stay of execution so hair and blood evidence can be tested. On Sunday, Cooper's legal claims were turned aside by a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit. But Judge James R. Browning's dissenting opinion urged a stay of the execution so that attorneys for Cooper, who maintains his innocence, could pursue further legal avenues. "There should be no hurry to execute Cooper," Browning wrote, adding that the hair and blood evidence from the scene should be reexamined. Cooper's attorneys have maintained that such evidence linking him to the crimes may have been planted or left by others who committed the murders. The last California governor to grant clemency to a condemned murderer was Ronald Reagan, who in 1967 spared the life of a severely brain-damaged killer. Cooper claims DNA evidence found at the scene, which matches his, was planted by authorities. He has repeatedly asked for renewed tests, but the courts have balked, saying there is no evidence of tampering and there is overwhelming evidence of Cooper's guilt. Cooper's attorneys insisted they have new evidence in the case, producing a woman who said that on the night of the 1983 murders, she saw 2 men covered in blood at a bar near the scene of the killings. On Saturday, 3 of Cooper's jurors called for a stay of execution. They said blond hair found in the hands of one of the victims should be tested. The hair had not undergone DNA testing before the 1985 trial. Prosecutors believe the hair was that of the victim, sheared off as she was being hacked to death. Cooper, 46, was sentenced to death for the murders of Douglas and Peggy Ryen, both 41, their 10-year-old daughter, Jessica, and Christopher Hughes, her 11-year-old friend. The San Bernardino County victims were stabbed and hacked repeatedly with a hatchet and buck knife. The Ryens' 8-year-old son, Joshua, had his throat slit, but survived. Authorities speculated his motive was to steal the family's station wagon.