Sometimes you wonder how the families of murder victims restrain themselves from just going after the murderers in the courtroom, as they sit only a few feet away. It's not surprising that Van Terry, the father of 18-year-old Shirellda Terry, yielded to temptation and lunged that at evil-to-the-core Michael Madison. The police stopped him before he could reach Madison. Michael Miller has a report, with video, at the WaPo.
We tell people to trust the system to work and not take things into their own hands. Too often the system betrays them. Ohio owes it to Mr. Terry as well as the other families to review this case within a reasonable time and, if there is no reversible error, carry out the sentence. The cases of Timothy McVeigh and the D.C. Sniper demonstrate that a full and fair review can be carried out in five or six years from sentence to execution.
That should be the standard. Absent any substantial claim of actual "got the wrong guy" innocence (and most capital cases have none) every capital case should reach a final conclusion -- reversal or execution -- within six years.
We tell people to trust the system to work and not take things into their own hands. Too often the system betrays them. Ohio owes it to Mr. Terry as well as the other families to review this case within a reasonable time and, if there is no reversible error, carry out the sentence. The cases of Timothy McVeigh and the D.C. Sniper demonstrate that a full and fair review can be carried out in five or six years from sentence to execution.
That should be the standard. Absent any substantial claim of actual "got the wrong guy" innocence (and most capital cases have none) every capital case should reach a final conclusion -- reversal or execution -- within six years.
"Too often the system betrays them."
And so many of the people in the system betraying people are 'rat judges who bend over backwards to twist the law to help criminals.
A death penalty case used to be carried out in a matter of months rather than years. I don’t believe there is any credible evidence of any innocents being executed.
I know a family whose 11-year old daughter was brutually murdered in the 1980s and the guy got the death penalty, but when the Supreme Court made the egregiously stupid decision that the death penalty violated the 8th amendment his sentence was communted to a life sentence. At that time Colorado did not have a life sentence with no possibility of parol so he is now eligible for parole. Thankfully, he has not yet been paroled but he will someday and it has nearly driven the mother crazy.
People who haven’t lost a loved one to a murderer don’t always understand that the family can’t ever get over it, especially when it’s a child. Its easier for them if the killer is no longer on this earth. They are entitled to that, in my view.
TJ: "They are entitled to that, in my view."
I agree.
Here are the sentiments of victim Yvonne Baldelli's sister:
{C&C blog comment May 27 News Scan}
"Today we got an apology - a hollow last-minute attempt to save himself. Last night we talked about forgiveness. But forgiveness is for those who repent, not for
those who cover their crimes, not for those who confess only when their
back's against the wall."
~Adamakis