Prosecutors in California said Wednesday that they will seek the death penalty if the man alleged to be the “Golden State Killer” is convicted, NBC News reports. The announcement comes less than a month after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a moratorium on executing any of the state’s 737 death row inmates. The freeze, however, cannot stop prosecutors from seeking capital punishment and cannot prevent judges or juries from imposing the death sentences. The decision was announced during a brief court hearing for Joseph DeAngelo, 73, who was arrested and charged last year with killing 13 people and raping more than 50 women in California from the 1970s to the 1980s. Public defender Diane Howard, who represents the alleged serial killer, said the prosecutors’ decision “does not further justice and is wasteful.” DeAngelo has not yet entered a plea.
