June 22
OKLAHOMA----impending execution
OSP death row inmate set for Tuesday execution
A death row inmate at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary is set to be executed at
6 p.m. Tuesday.
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 to recommend granting clemency
to Brian Darrell Davis, 38, after his clemency hearing earlier this month.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt released a statement on June 7 in which
he denounced the board???s clemency vote and Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin denied
the recommendation, saying that Davis is to be executed as scheduled.
"This convicted murderer lured his estranged girlfriend's mother to his
apartment and then brutally raped her, broke her jaw, stabbed her 6 times,
puncturing her abdomen, and left her for dead while he drove around in her
van," Pruitt said. "He does not deserve our pity or clemency, and it is
incomprehensible that 4 members of the pardon and parole board would usurp the
judgment of a jury and deny this family justice."
Of the last 11 death row inmates set for execution in Oklahoma, the board voted
to recommend clemency only 1 other time, for Garry Thomas Allen. As with Davis,
Fallin did not approve the board's recommendation and Allen was executed Nov.
6, 2012.
Davis is the 2nd death row inmate set for execution this month. James Lewis
DeRosa, 36, was put to death via lethal injection on June 18. The board did not
recommend clemency for DeRosa.
Both DeRosa and Davis opted to make no last meal requests.
In fact, both offenders have made no requests at all, said OSP Warden's
Assistant Terry Crenshaw. This includes last meal requests as well as requests
for visitors on execution day. Crenshaw said the fact that the 2 inmates have
chosen to make no last meal requests is quite out of the ordinary. Davis and
DeRosa were cell mates, Crenshaw said.
On April 15, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Davis???s final appeal and Pruitt
requested an execution date be set.
Davis was convicted of the Nov. 4, 2001, rape and murder of 52-year-old
Josephine "Jody" Sanford.
"In January 2003, Davis was found guilty by a jury for the November 2001
1st-degree murder and rape of his girlfriend's mother, Jody Sanford, 52, of
Ponca City," Pruitt said in a press release. "He was sentenced to death for the
murder and 100 years for rape."
According to court records, Davis returned home in the early morning hours of
Nov. 4, 2001, after socializing with friends at a local club. When he arrived
home, he found that his girlfriend, Stacey Sanford, and their 3-year-old
daughter were missing.
Davis called Jody Sanford, Stacey Sanford's mother, to ask if she knew were his
girlfriend and daughter were, court records state. "When Jody could not locate
her daughter and granddaughter, she went to Stacey's and Davis's apartment."
Davis made several conflicting statements regarding what happened while Jody
Sanford was in his home. According to court records, he changed his story
multiple times and told different stories to his girlfriend, to police and to
the jury at his trial. Court records indicate that Davis did admit to having
sex with and stabbing Jody Sanford.
When Stacey Sanford arrived home shortly after 9 a.m., she found her mother's
body. "Stacey (Sanford) immediately called 911 and local police arrived to
investigate," court records state. "Meanwhile, Davis had been involved in a
single-car accident while driving Jody's van near the Salt Fork River Bridge.
Davis was seriously injured after he was ejected from the van through the front
windshield. Davis was transported to a local hospital for treatment."
Because Davis had a blood alcohol level of .09 percent, he was placed under
arrest for driving under the influence and was later transferred to a regional
hospital in Wichita, Kan., for treatment for injuries he sustained in the car
accident.
According to Pruitt, Jody Sanford had been beaten and stabbed 6 times and DNA
evidence showed Davis had raped her.
Davis has been in custody with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections since
March 17, 2003.
(source: McAlester News)
COLORADO:
James Holmes' Lawyers Blocked from Attending Psych ExamJune 21, 2013
Lawyers for James Holmes, who has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to
killing 12 moviegoers in a Colorado theater last year, cannot be present during
his court-ordered psychiatric examination, the judge in the murder case ruled
on Wednesday.
Arapahoe County District judge Carlos Samour Jr. rejected a motion by Holmes'
public defenders, who argued that they should be allowed to attend the exam -
especially since prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against their
client.
Under Colorado law, any incriminating information divulged by the defendant
during such an exam can be used against the accused at his trial and
sentencing.
(source: reason.com)
ARIZONA:
Judge in Arias case delays decision on next move
A judge delayed a decision Thursday on the next step for the murder trial of
Jodi Arias, who made her 1st court appearance since the jury was unable to
reach a decision last month on punishment for killing her boyfriend.
A shackled Arias walked into court escorted by several jail officers and
briefly sat at the defense table as lawyers met privately in the chambers of
Judge Sherry Stephens. The judge scheduled another hearing for July 18, the
date a new penalty phase had been tentatively scheduled to start.
The proceeding lacked the sizzle of the 5-month trial that attracted a global
following and had spectators waiting in line in the middle of the night to get
a coveted seat in the courtroom. On Thursday, the courtroom was about 2/3 full,
the hearing was not televised, and there were no arguments in open court.
Arias, born and raised in Salinas, was found guilty of 1st-degree murder on May
8 in the June 2008 stabbing and shooting death of boyfriend Travis Alexander at
his suburban Phoenix home. About 2 weeks later, the same jury failed to reach a
unanimous decision on whether to sentence Arias to life in prison or death.
Though the murder conviction will stand, a new penalty phase must occur to
decide Arias' punishment. It will be a mini-trial of sorts to get a fresh jury
up to speed on the case. Jury selection alone could take weeks, given the
difficulty of seating an impartial panel in the high-profile case.
Prosecutors have the option of taking the death penalty off the table, and
Stephens would then sentence Arias to 1 of 2 punishments: life in prison or the
less likely life in prison with the possibility of release after 25 years.
If prosecutors do pursue death, a new panel must be seated to determine a
sentence. If another deadlock occurs, the death penalty would automatically be
removed, leaving the judge to sentence Arias to one of the life-in-prison
options.
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said last week his office continues to
prepare for a retrial aimed at securing a death sentence. He had previously
said he is confident an impartial jury can be seated to determine Arias'
punishment but added that he is open to input from defense lawyers and the
victim???s family about possibly scrapping a new trial in favor of a life
sentence for Arias.
Meanwhile, after losing motions for mistrials, appeals to higher courts and
efforts to quit the case altogether, Arias' attorneys tried a new tactic this
month, appealing to the court of public opinion while hoping to influence
Montgomery's decision.
"It is solely for them to determine if continuing to pursue a death sentence
upon Ms. Arias, who is already facing a mandatory life sentence, is a good and
proper use of taxpayer resources," defense attorneys Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer
Willmott wrote in a statement provided to The Arizona Republic.
Taxpayers footed the bill for Arias' court-appointed attorneys at a cost so far
of nearly $1.7 million, a price tag that will only balloon if the case moves
forward.
Arias, 32, admitted she killed Alexander, but claimed it was self-defense after
he attacked her. Prosecutors argued it was premeditated murder carried out in a
jealous rage after the victim wanted to end their affair and planned a trip to
Mexico with another woman.
Arias stabbed and slashed Alexander nearly 30 times, slit his throat so deeply
she nearly decapitated him and shot him in the forehead. She then left his body
in his shower where friends found him about 5 days later. She testified for 18
days during her 4-month trial, describing for jurors an abusive childhood,
cheating boyfriends, dead-end jobs, a shocking sexual relationship with
Alexander, and her contention that he had grown physically abusive.
(source: The Californian)
CALIFORNIA:
Murder of Newlyweds Get What They Deserve
2 former Marines have been sentenced to death for their role in one of the most
hideous crimes imaginable -- they were convicted of storming the home of an
Iraqi veteran and his new wife, forcing the husband to watch as they raped his
wife, and then shooting both of them in the head. The 3rd Marine who was
convicted of killing the couple was sentenced to life in prison.
From the first I heard about this crime, I thought it was one of the more
horrific I'd ever heard. Newlywed couple Sergeant Jan Pietrzak, 24, and his
wife Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak, 26, weren't just killed, they were tortured for
several hours before their deaths with details too grisly and disgusting to get
into. This couple suffered unspeakably before their young lives were snuffed
out -- and all because these three scumbags, who defile the name Marine, merely
decided to wreak hell and havoc upon a completely innocent couple.
A crime like this by anyone would be bad enough, but to think 3 Marines
perpetrated it, makes it even more deeply disturbing. And they did it on a
fellow militaryman. They even knew the veteran. His wife was a caring woman who
was a counselor with an infant care program.
The prosecution had tried to claim the attack was racially motivated because
the husband was white and the wife black and racial slurs were found written on
the wall -- the defense said it was a robbery gone wrong. Yeah, that's "gone
wrong" all right! Either way, these 3 Marines couldn't have possibly conducted
themselves as any less worthy of a Marine. I even hate saying the word "Marine"
in the same paragraph as them.
I'm generally not in favor of the death penalty, but no one will miss these 2.
(source: Kiri Blakeley, cafemom.com)
*************************
A 72-year-old man faces 3 counts of murder and arson
Investigators arrested 72-year-old Donald Clark on Wednesday. He made his court
appearance Friday afternoon.
District Attorney Mike Ramsey laid out all of the stunning details about this
case.
The victims are identified, circumstantially by the sheriff's office, as
15-year-old Roland Lowe, his mother 46-year-old Colleen Lowe, and 17-year-old
Richard Jones Jr. They are all from Sacramento.
"Each of the victims were shot once with a shotgun and they were deceased
before the fire occurred," said Ramsey.
Ramsey revealed 72-year-old Donald Clark was familiar with Jones, who for the
last 3 summers, stayed on his property with a friend.
Last year, the 2 apparently had a falling out. Clark believing Jones was
stealing equipment. He was told never to return, but last week he did in a car
reported stolen.
"He saw them come into his place and then he wanted them off and that's when
the shooting occurred," said Ramsey.
According to Ramsey, the murder weapon was a 12-gauge pump shot gun. He shot
each victim once each.
Ramsey says once they were dead, Clark put their bodies in a 2000 Acura T-L,
driving up the Skyway to just north of Hupp Coutelenc Road near Magalia where
he lit the car on fire.
"He then took a bicycle he put in the car and rode back to his property," said
Ramsey.
Clark was in court Friday afternoon for his arraignment. Family members of at
least 1 of the victims were there too, but didn't want to be interviewed.
Meanwhile, Ramsey says the district attorney's office is seeking life in prison
without the possibility of parole or maybe even the death penalty.
"With a man that is 72 years old whether the death penalty is something that we
want to pursue given the fact he probably be dead before the death penalty be
imposed," said Ramsey.
It's not yet clear if Jones actually stole that Acura from Sacramento last
week. The sheriff's office also adds that they're still waiting official DNA
confirmation of those victim's identities.
Clark meanwhile sits in the Butte County Jail with no bail. He's due back in
court next Tuesday.
(source: KRCR TV News)
OREGON:
Death Row Inmate Compelled to Accept Reprieve He Sought to Reject
On Sunday, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that a condemned murderer trying to
seek his own death warrant in the face of reprieve was bound to accept the
reprieve. In November 2011, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber had issued a blanket
reprieve to all prisoners on Oregon's death row.
However, he did not commute the sentences of the death row inmates permanently,
holding that he did not have the personal capacity to change the state's law on
capital punishment by acting alone.
Kitzhaber's blanket reprieve came about a month prior to the scheduled
execution of Gary Haugen, who was convicted of killing his girlfriend's mother.
Later he and another person were convicted of killing a prison inmate.
Haugen argued that it was cruel and unusual punishment to order an impermanent
reprieve that left death row inmates on limbo, unsure of their future. He sued
to have his death warrant issued.
A lower court held that he had the right to reject the reprieve, but the Oregon
Supreme Court overturned the decision of the lower court and held that the
prison inmate did not have the right to reject the reprieve.
Oregon Chief Justice Thomas Balmer observed that "nothing inherent in the world
'reprieve' requires the recipient's acceptance for the reprieve to be
effective." The court also rejected the argument that a temporary reprieve from
execution created cruel and unusual punishment due to uncertainty.
Kitzhaber, who is a staunch opponent of capital punishment welcomed the ruling
of the Oregon Supreme Court and issued a statement calling "for a reevaluation
of our current system that embraces capital punishment, which has devolved into
an unworkable system that fails to meet the basic standards of justice."
Currently, 18 U.S. states have abolished the death penalty.
(source: JD Journal)
**********************
The People of Oregon v. The Death Penalty
The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled. Gary Haugen will not yet die at the state's
hand.
The court's ruling seems reasonable. Gov. John Kitzhaber has the authority to
grant a reprieve of Haugen's execution even though Haugen doesn't want it; and
the uncertainty of sitting on death row does not constitute unconstitutional
punishment, as Haugen contended.
"Moreover, Haugen cites no case that suggests that a reprieve or other act of
clemency qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment," states the unanimous
opinion written by Chief Justice Thomas Balmer.
Yet the greater issue remains unresolved: Should Oregon retain the death
penalty.
In 2011, Kitzhaber took a courageous stand. He declared that no one would be
executed on his watch, including double murderer Haugen, whose date with death
was only weeks away.
Kitzhaber, who during his previous gubernatorial tenure had overseen the
state's 2 most recent executions, called for a statewide debate on capital
punishment.
"14 years ago, I struggled with the decision to allow an execution to proceed,"
he said at the time. "Over the years, I have thought if faced with the same set
of circumstances, I would make a different decision. That time has come."
He challenged the 2013 Legislature to reform the death penalty or to end it.
And then he fell silent.
2011 and 2012 passed without any such statewide debate. And now the 2013
Legislature will exit the Oregon Capitol with the state's capital punishment
laws unaltered.
Certainly, the governor had numerous other issues on his agenda, and his aides
have said there was little political will among legislators to confront capital
punishment. But if the death penalty were as inequitable and repugnant as the
governor contended - if sparing the life of a despicable person such as Haugen
were preferable to achieving final justice - then Kitzhaber had the moral
obligation to carry that case to the Oregon people.
Because on the issue of capital punishment, Kitzhaber is right.
The death penalty is a barbaric act, lowering the state to the level of those
who kill in retribution. It is applied unequally, with appeals taking so long
that Oregon death-row inmates will not be executed unless they volunteer.
And the alternative, life imprisonment, is such a severe punishment that even
an inmate such as Haugen would prefer execution.
Yet capital punishment, or the illusion of it, persists in Oregon.
(source: Editorial, Statesman Journal)
*********************
Suspected cop killer transferred from mental hospital to jail
A man accused of killing the police chief in the northwest Oregon town Rainier
has been returned to jail from the Oregon State Hospital, and a trial is on
hold during arguments over his mental condition and competence to stand trial.
Daniel Butts, 23, is accused of shooting Chief Ralph Painter in January 2011.
Doctors at the state hospital decided there was no reason to keep Butts at the
secure facility and no reason to force him to take anti-psychotic medication,
the Longview Daily News reported. He was returned Thursday to the Columbia
County Jail.
District Attorney Stephen Atchison said a 3rd competence hearing is likely to
be scheduled.
Judge Ted Grove had ordered that Butts, who was refusing medication, be
forcibly medicated at the state hospital to help confirm whether he had a
mental illness.
Hospital officials challenged Grove's ruling, saying it wasn't legally
sufficient to force medication, Atchison said.
"They said, 'We don't need to keep him here, there's nothing we can do,'"
Atchison said.
Defense psychiatrists say Butts is possibly schizophrenic, citing erratic
behavior and a family history of mental problems. He has refused to speak
through much of his incarceration.
In late 2011, Grove found that Butts was faking mental illness. At a second
hearing in February, Grove ruled that Butts was mentally impaired and couldn't
assist with his defense. State doctors testified there was no evidence of
mental illness. Atchison argues Butts is trying to avoid a possible death
penalty.
Butts, who was from Kalama, Wash., is accused of shooting 55-year-old Chief
Ralph Painter after the chief responded to a report of a suspicious person at a
Rainier car stereo shop. Investigators say Butts wrestled Painter's gun away
and shot him in the head.
Butts is also charged with shooting at responding officers and people in a
nearby church.
(source: KOMO News)
US MILITARY:
Judge denies trial delay for Fort Hood suspect
A military judge has refused a 3-month trial delay for the Army psychiatrist
charged in the deadly 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage.
Maj. Nidal Hasan made the request after the judge allowed him to represent
himself at the court-martial. Hasan said he needed more time to prepare for his
defense strategy.
Last week the judge barred Hasan from telling jurors that he shot U.S. troops
because they posed an immediate threat to Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, Hasan told the judge that he no longer needed more time to prepare.
Col. Tara Osborn, the judge, is expected to set a trial date later Tuesday.
Hasan faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted in
the attack that left
(source: Associated Press)
USA:
Death is Death: The More Capital Punishment Evolves, the More it Stays the Same
Vengeance and retribution are both human responses to tragedy, especially
violence on a large scale. We're not interested in justice when unspeakable
acts take place. We want blood - now. Because our society is one of laws, angry
mobs don't usually hand down guilty verdicts and exact punishment. We have to
wait for the guilty to go through the motions - arrest, "fair" trial, and
sentencing - to get what we paid for: that sweet execution. Decades may pass
from the time a judge hands down a death sentence to the day it's carried out.
The somber, private occasion that is our modern version of capital punishment
brooks no cheers, no joyful singing that the guilty is soon to die. It is not
the vehicle of satisfaction the public envisions it to be. There's no catharsis
for the victims, and no deterrence for those who might commit similar crimes in
the future. In fact, employing it as a mechanism of the justice system has no
place in our modern society - not even for the worst of the worst.
Murder Wasn't Always a Capital Offense
The Code of Hammurabi contains the first recorded death penalty laws, according
to ProCon.org, a nonprofit research charity. Of its 282 separate laws, citizens
of ancient Babylon could face death for a number of offenses, including lying
in open court, receiving stolen property, or bringing false accusations.
However, murder was not a capital offense. Buying a stolen goat results in
horrible death, but killing the goat's owner isn't such a big deal. What's this
say about those early civilizations? Life was relatively cheap. Possessions,
including the buying and selling of slaves, mattered more than the careful
application of laws and justice. Monarchical rule also streamlined the carrying
out of sentences. If the king (who his subjects also consider a god) believes
you to be guilty, there's little room for an appeal.
As governments increased in size, and decision makers became more varied, the
offenses that could land citizens under a headsman's sword became equally
divergent. Methods of execution became just as inventive, and gruesome,
designed in large part to exact maximum pain before death finally came.
Death, in and of itself, wasn't the main deterrence so much as the manner of
killing. Governments, lawmakers, and monarchs used these terrible methods of
execution as public warnings to the populace.
--The Brazen Bull - designed in ancient Greece, this method of capital
punishment took the form of a hollowed-out bull statue, which executioners
placed the condemned inside. A fire placed beneath the statue roasted the
condemned alive.
--Drawing and Quartering - popular in England up until the 1800's, those
executed by drawing and quartering were first hanged until nearly dead, then
disemboweled alive. Severed parts of the person's anatomy shown in the varying
parts of the kingdom.
--Slow Cutting - seemingly fit for a noir thriller, this Chinese method of
capital punishment involved the methodical severing of the person's joints and
limbs with the killing stroke (usually a stab to the heart) coming last.
--Stoning - one of the oldest methods of execution, stoning is a biblical
punishment for a variety of offenses, including adultery and blasphemy. Buried
up to their waist a gathered crowd throws rocks - not large enough to cause
death in a couple throws, but larger than pebbles - at the person until they're
dead.
Killed for Counterfeit Stamps: England and Colonial America
Currently, there are 41 capital offenses in the United States for which death
may be the ultimate punishment. The majority involve the murder of another
person, though others (treason) involve the betrayal of state secrets to
foreign nations. During the 1700s in England, there were more than 200 separate
offenses for which death was the only punishment, including cutting down a
tree, stealing more than 40 shillings from a house, and counterfeiting tax
stamps, according to PBS Frontline. During the reign of Henry VIII, says PBS,
the estimated number of people put to death in England ranges upwards of
72,000.
Methods execution varied by class. For royalty and the wealthy, death was a
(mostly) painless beheading. However, for those without prominent station, the
manner death often took more painful forms from boiling alive to burning at the
stake.
Colonial America wasn't much different when it came to capital punishment.
Colonists executed their first criminal, George Kendall of Virginia, for
plotting to betray the Crown to the Spanish. By 1612, Virginia's governor
instituted laws so restrictive that residents could suffer the death penalty
for seemingly minor offenses, including stealing grapes and killing chickens.
Death is the Best Kind of Psychological Warfare
Fear of death isn't as big a motivator as being pulled back from the brink of
certain execution. During the French and Indian War, then militia
Commander-in-Chief George Washington used the threat of summary execution of
deserters to keep his remaining troops loyal as he fought battles along the
western frontier. On 1 occasion, he ordered death by hanging for a massive
group of deserters, but recanted, and hanged only 2, according to the Virginia
Foundation for the Humanities.
Why sentence a large group of men to death and execute only 2? To show mercy,
and at the same time, show others a willingness to punish the guilty. The
psychological impact of capital punishment, in both its application and
reprieve from it, can instill compliance, loyalty, and even improve morale.
Modern Saudi Arabia also employs psychological effects when it comes to capital
punishment, but with an old twist. In a move that mirrors ancient Babylonian
law, Saudi officials are reportedly considering a sentence of paralysis for a
man who was 14-years-old when he stabbed and paralyzed his friend, according to
CNN. Government agents will reportedly carry out the "eye for an eye" style
sentence unless the accused can pay $266,000 in compensation to the victim. Of
course, that's going to be hard to come up with considering the attacker has
been in prison for the last 10 years.
Public Executions like Carnivals?
Public executions were both a means for the populace to see the guilty punished
and to witness the fate that awaited them should they commit similar crimes.
The last public execution in the United States took place in Owensboro,
Kentucky in 1936. Authorities hanged Rainey Bethea in front of more than 20,000
witnesses for the rape and murder of a 70-year-old woman, according to National
Public Radio. Journalists and photographers attending the event, many from as
far away as New York, lambasted what they considered to be a "carnival" rather
than a somber, dignified occasion. Rainey ascended the scaffold near dawn and
died by hanging a short-time later. The public spectacle of the execution is
reportedly what led to the banning of public executions in the United States.
States chose to ban these events in the large part because they violate
Constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. The Eighth
Amendment protects U.S. citizens from punishments considered to bring undue
suffering, pain, or humiliation. The need to remove the pain from capital
punishment, while still using it as a component of the justice system, is what
led many nations to develop more efficient means of executing those convicted
of capital offenses.
The gas chamber, electric chair, and lethal injections are all methods
developed by modern countries, including the United States, to end life without
pain in a humane manner.
However, authorities still screw them up, and when they do, there's no shortage
of collateral damage.
Botched Executions are Justice Served?
Willie Francis survived the electric chair, but that didn't stop authorities
from strapping him a second time and throwing the switch. The U.S. Supreme
Court ruled 5-4 that 2nd attempts at execution do not violate the
Constitutional rights of the condemned, citing that the electric chair's
malfunction in Francis; case was "completely accidental."
Some may argue those convicted of capital offenses deserve whatever punishment
they get. The families of victims might suggest that any pain and suffering the
guilty experience is "icing on the cake" for the tragedies they've forced them
to endure. Baying for blood isn't the same as carrying out a death sentence,
and those who witness particularly horrible executions carry the haunting
memories for the rest of their lives.
--Romell Brown leaves an Ohio execution chamber alive after 18 failed attempts
to administer a lethal injection.
--Florida Supreme Court Justice Leander Shaw reacts in horror at photos of
Allen Lee Davis who died by electric chair. Shaw reportedly commented that
Davis appeared as if he had been "tortured to death."
--John Evans caught fire in 1983 when authorities turned on the juice to his
electric chair. Evans lived for 14 minutes, and 2 additional jolts while still
burning, until doctors finally pronounced him dead.
--Authorities cleared the room of witnesses during the gas chamber execution of
Jimmy Lee Gray due to his continued desperate gasps for air and loud moans. He
reportedly bashed his head continuously on a pole in the chamber as cyanide
burned its way through his body. His executioner was allegedly drunk.
We Haven't Learned: Death and the Dance of Justice
"For James Eagan Holmes, justice is death," said Arapahoe County district
attorney George Brauchler, according to ABC News. Holmes is alleged to have
killed 12 people and wounded 70 during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight
Rises in Aurora, Colorado. Brauchler, and his prosecutorial team, turned down a
proposed plea agreement from Holmes, which would have required him to spend the
rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. They're seeking
the death penalty, and many victims and the families of survivors applaud that
decision. How many times did Brauchler practice that headline worthy snippet in
the mirror? Did he imagine it broadcast across the globe by info-hungry media
outlets?
Executing Holmes won't bring back the dead, or provide those left behind with
greater comfort. After his legal defense exhaust all of his appeals it may be
decades until he sees an execution chamber - if a jury or judge sentences him
to death at all. Victims, seeking to move on with their lives and heal, may
only have their emotional wounds from that horrible night reopened, all the
recovery washed away in a small black box of a room to watch a man die. Suppose
a better punishment might be to sit in a maximum security cell for the rest of
his days, and know that life goes on without him. If the state sentences this
man, who reportedly has a history of significant mental illness, to death, will
the execution go as planned? Will witnesses see a man spend his last moments
writhing in pain or quietly slipping off to sleep? Suppose neither act gives
the emotional release we might all crave as a killer's survivors.
What does it say about us if we like what we see?
(source: Console & Hollawell Blog)
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