In a written ruling, Superior Court Judge William Ryan vacated the death sentences of James N. Blair and Anderson Hawthorne Jr. and ordered the two to spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
Some said the felt lied to, and others blindsided, by the campaign - while others said they felt manipulated and unheard by the city official, who is an outspoken opponent of the death penalty.
Butler, who was 18 at the time of the crime and is now 46, was sentenced to death for the March 25, 1994, shooting deaths of Takuma Ito, a Japanese citizen, and Go Matsuura, a U.S. citizen who grew up primarily in Japan, in the parking lot of a Ralphs store.