Feinstein's surprise call for death penalty puts D.A. on spot

Sen. Dianne Feinstein's out-of-the-blue call for the death penalty for the killer of San Francisco police Officer Isaac Espinoza didn't just catch District Attorney Kamala Harris off guard -- it ignited a row of fireworks that is still going off, from City Hall to the Hall of Justice.

Rank-and-file cops were already grumbling over the new D.A.'s decision not to seek the death penalty for alleged cop killer David Hill, but it was the senator's remarks during Espinoza's funeral at St. Mary's Cathedral that struck the match.

It was hardly the scenario anyone would have guessed Friday when former Mayor Feinstein -- the grand dame of both city and state politics -- accepted an offer from the police brass to say a few words at Espinoza's memorial.

And it was hardly the scenario Harris envisioned when the senator politely greeted her and other dignitaries beforehand outside the church.

Nor was it a scenario that Feinstein's speechwriters had envisioned when they handed her a few prepared remarks.

But Feinstein -- who has been fighting in Washington to keep her assault weapons ban alive -- parted from the script and spoke from the gut.

"This is not only the definition of tragedy, it's the special circumstance called for by the death penalty law," Feinstein said.

The comment -- which some in the audience viewed as out of place in a church service -- nonetheless drew a standing ovation from the crowd of mostly police.

Feinstein then ruffled feathers further when she walked out and said that had she known Harris was against the death penalty, she probably wouldn't have endorsed her for D.A. in the first place.

All of which had Harris -- who has always been clear in her opposition to capital punishment -- feeling blindsided and angry that the senator didn't use her time at the pulpit to try to bring the community together.

"She came in and (trashed) . . . us and left," said one Harris loyalist.

And Feinstein wasn't the only one.

No sooner had Feinstein stepped down from the podium than Police Officers Association President Gary Delagnes stood up and reversed his earlier backing of Harris' decision not to seek the death penalty -- this time demanding that Espinoza's killer "pay the ultimate price."

Like Feinstein, Delagnes' remarks earned a big round of applause. It also earned him a very dirty look from Harris, who was sitting in the front row.

Delagnes -- who has been taking hits for going along with Harris in the first place -- said he had no choice. "I felt I had to say something to the members as president of the POA," he said.

The ensuing imbroglio has the novice district attorney scrambling to do damage control.

"Kamala clearly can't back away from what she said, and we are going to have to deal with it," said one source close to the cops. "But let's be honest -- she didn't have to do this. She could have said, 'Now that I'm D.A. , I'm going to take another look at this.' She didn't, and so now it's Kamala's problem."

Taking a second look was apparently something Delagnes had urged her to do last week at a luncheon sit-down at Rocco's Cafe.

Delagnes said she made no promises -- but nonetheless, he agreed to join Harris at a press conference later that day.

Police Chief Heather Fong was also expected to be there, but apparently thought better of it.

As it turned out, Harris made no mention of taking a second look. Nonetheless, Delagnes played the good soldier -- saying Harris was "pursuing the proper path and we have the utmost confidence in her."

And it blew up in his face.

"Now I've got people calling me a liberal -- me!" he said.

Delagnes has been hitting stationhouses across the city to mend fences. And Fong has joined the chorus of Harris' critics, calling for the death penalty in a memo she sent to the troops.

Mayor Gavin Newsom - who is on the record as opposing capital punishment -- said Tuesday he has mixed feelings about this case.

We do know, however, that Fong called the mayor Monday and read her statement to Newsom before releasing it.

His response: Do what you think is right under these "difficult circumstances."

As for Harris, she appears to be hoping this all blows over when emotions recede.

"My goal," Harris said, "is to put the person who did this in prison for the rest of their life."

Death penalty blues: Demanding the death penalty for a cop killer is one thing, but as prosecutors in Alameda County have learned the hard way, sending a cop killer to death row is quite another.

The D.A. in Alameda County has sought the death penalty in no fewer than four police killings over the past two decades.

The prosecution's batting average: zero.

District Attorney Tom Orloff, who personally prosecuted one of the cop killers back in 1986, says there appears to be a common thread -- namely, jurors' reluctance to deal out the death penalty without clear proof that the defendant woke up that day with the idea of killing a cop.

"In most of these police cases, the situation develops very rapidly . . . and the jury is less likely to see the same degree of evil as in cases where someone plots it out ahead of time," Orloff said.

"Our juries are just like San Francisco's," he said. "(Imposing the death penalty) is not something they jump at the opportunity to do."

And finally: The last San Francisco police officer gunned down in the line of duty was James Guelff in 1994.

Wounded in that shootout was Officer John Payne.

Guelff's badge number was 1461.

Payne's badge number was 64.

Ten years later, a gunman killed Officer Isaac Espinoza and wounded Officer Barry Parker.

Parker's badge number is 1461.

And Espinoza's?

64.