Probe ordered on California death row inmate innocence claim

FILE - In this July 31, 1983, file photo, Kevin Cooper, center, a suspect in connection with the slashing death of four people in Chino, Calif., is escorted to a car for transport to San Bernadino from Santa Barbara, Calif., after he was arrested by police at Santa Cruz Island. Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered an independent investigation into the conviction of death row inmate Kevin Cooper, who claims he was framed for the stabbing deaths of four people, including two children, in 1983. Newsom on Friday, May 28, 2021, ordered a law firm to examine all the evidence, including results of DNA testing that Cooper had argued could prove his innocence. Newsom said he's taking no position on Cooper's guilt or innocence. Cooper wants clemency, alleging he was framed for a 1983 knife and hatchet attack on a Chino Hills family that killed four people, including a boy and girl, ages 10 and 11. (AP Photo/File)