California IN BRIEF : VENTURA : Killer Frank Wins Stay of Execution

Theodore Frank has won a 45-day federal court stay of his death sentence for the 1978 torture-murder of a 2 1/2-year-old Camarillo girl, opening up his last chance for appeal, Ventura County prosecutors announced. U.S. District Court Judge Alicemarie H. Stotler granted Frank’s request for a stay of execution on Nov. 18, effectively postponing his Dec. 6 execution until late January. Stotler is expected to appoint a lawyer for Frank and to hear his arguments that he has been unjustly condemned to die for molesting, torturing and murdering Amy Sue Seitz 13 years ago. Frank petitioned the federal court for a writ of habeas corpus, a ruling that his verdict or sentence violates his constitutional rights.