A grave miscarriage of justice..

[Cyclone]

I was reading about this yesterday, his execution in the past was stopped with just hours to go, I was hoping it would be stopped again this time.

[Conrod]

Given that in Georgia 48.4% of people on death row this morning were black males, and in Georgia they make up no more than 15% of the population - then yes it's by no means impossible to imagine that racism came into this killing somewhere.

How very racist that in a state with a 15% black population, 7 of his 12 jurors were black.

 

I don't suppose it could ever occur to you that a much higher proportion of black men are in jail than white men because they commit more crime?

[Halibut]

I'm not so sure about the innocence of Troy Davis as you Halibut, but the fact that we cannot be 100% certain of his guilt is the point.

 

Ever since I read about the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, and Governor Rick Perry's eagerness to execute somebody who most probably was innocent, I can only conclude, with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, that Texas is no better than an Islamic state.

 

 

Just read up on that case. Truly shocking.

Pro deathers often suggest that such cases are beyond doubt and that the forensic evidence is completely reliable.

I think what this case and the Willingham case illustrate very well is that the opposite is often the case.

Forensic evidence can be absent, or wrong or misrepresented and that even when there are multiple witnesses things can and do go very badly wrong.

[quisquose]

Just read up on that case. Truly shocking.

Pro deathers often suggest that such cases are beyond doubt and that the forensic evidence is completely reliable.

I think what this case and the Willingham case illustrate very well is that the opposite is often the case.

Forensic evidence can be absent, or wrong or misrepresented and that even when there are multiple witnesses things can and do go very badly wrong.

 

The Cameron Todd Willingham story is a must read in The New Yorker:

 

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grann

 

It's a long read, but I guarantee that if you start reading you will be not stop.

 

The only murder that was committed was that by Rick Perry, who unfortunately is running for president.

[peppercorn]

I find the whole situation very sad and am a strong believer in Karma, no human being should have the right to take another human beings life whether legal or illegal.

 

I hope president Obama reaps the Karma which will catch up with him.

[boyfriday]

I'm not so sure about the innocence of Troy Davis as you Halibut, but the fact that we cannot be 100% certain of his guilt is the point.

 

I agree, I've been following the Troy Davis case for some time, and if the evidence for his innocence was so compelling it's hard to believe it would have been unable to escape the judicial process time after time, but given there is a huge question mark hanging over the evidence, the death penalty should have been rescinded and a retrial ordered.

[Womerry2]

I hope president Obama reaps the Karma which will catch up with him.

 

Considering the living nightmare that his Office must have become for him, by your reckoning he must have done something very bad indeed in a former life.

 

Obama is, in effect, powerless, so to concentrate on him in this case is to get sidetracked.

 

The death penalty is, by those who believe in it, held to be the proportionate response to murder. There is little reasoning with that kind of certainty. The only approach is to use all available legal channels to show where a conviction might not be conclusive proof of guilt.

 

In this case, the available legal channels had been reduced by the introduction of Georgia's "Anti-Terror" laws. I suspect that more might have been achieved if the applicability of these laws had been challenged first, as this would have opened up the possibility to submit new evidence that was not presented in the original defence.

 

Instead, repeated appeals were in effect lost on points of procedure, all of which went back to the original point of inadmissibility of evidence.

[peppercorn]

Considering the living nightmare that his Office must have become for him, by your reckoning he must have done something very bad indeed in a former life.

 

Obama is, in effect, powerless, so to concentrate on him in this case is to get sidetracked.

 

The death penalty is, by those who believe in it, held to be the proportionate response to murder. There is little reasoning with that kind of certainty. The only approach is to use all available legal channels to show where a conviction might not be conclusive proof of guilt.

 

In this case, the available legal channels had been reduced by the introduction of Georgia's "Anti-Terror" laws. I suspect that more might have been achieved if the applicability of these laws had been challenged first, as this would have opened up the possibility to submit new evidence that was not presented in the original defence.

 

Instead, repeated appeals were in effect lost on points of procedure, all of which went back to the original point of inadmissibility of evidence.

 

 

 

Obama was the one man who had the power to stop this and instead he sat on his throne of dirt and did nothing

[Big time]

You can't help but wonder weather this clear miscarriage of justice was done on purpose to help the argument against the death penalty along.

[Womerry2]

You can't help but wonder weather this clear miscarriage of justice was done on purpose to help the argument against the death penalty along.

 

Considering the serial cockups, the level of organisation required for a conspiracy would appear to be lacking.