Posted on 03/28/2005 12:36:05 PM PST by Sola Veritas
Condemned man gets life in prison for killing waitress Updated: 2:47 p.m. ET March 28, 2005 DENVER - The Colorado Supreme Court threw out the death sentence Monday of a man convicted of raping and killing a cocktail waitress because jurors consulted the Bible during deliberations. The court said Bible passages, including the verse that commands “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” could lead jurors to vote for death. The justices ordered Robert Harlan to serve life in prison without parole for the 1994 slaying of Rhonda Maloney. Harlan’s attorneys challenged the sentence after discovering five jurors had looked up Bible verses, copied some of them down and then talked about them behind closed doors. Prosecutors said jurors should be allowed to refer to the Bible or other religious texts during deliberations.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
What I actually believe (1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith)(it allows for just war):
Chapter 24: Of the Civil Magistrate
1._____ God, the supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath ordained civil magistrates to be under him, over the people, for his own glory and the public good; and to this end hath armed them with the power of the sword, for defence and encouragement of them that do good, and for the punishment of evil doers.
( Romans 13:1-4 )
2._____ It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a magistrate when called there unto; in the management whereof, as they ought especially to maintain justice and peace, according to the wholesome laws of each kingdom and commonwealth, so for that end they may lawfully now, under the New Testament wage war upon just and necessary occasions.
( 2 Samuel 23:3; Psalms 82:3, 4; Luke 3:14 )
3._____ Civil magistrates being set up by God for the ends aforesaid; subjection, in all lawful things commanded by them, ought to be yielded by us in the Lord, not only for wrath, but for conscience sake; and we ought to make supplications and prayers for kings and all that are in authority, that under them we may live a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty.
( Romans 13:5-7; 1 Peter 2:17; 1 Timothy 2:1, 2 )
Completely out of control.
and why not?
You fail to see the folly in your statement, don't you?
There is no difference
LMFAO
With all due respect Steve_Seattle you realize that this is all going to come to a screeching halt soon enough don't you?
You just want to make me start singing "We are the World"
It appears that a murderer was set free because jurors read the Bible. The Bible is a religious text.
This evidently has something "to do with religion."
From the article, "The justices ordered Robert Harlan to serve life in prison without parole for the 1994 slaying of Rhonda Maloney."
From the article, "The justices ordered Robert Harlan to serve life in prison without parole for the 1994 slaying of Rhonda Maloney."
Heaven forbid that a jury have access to actual INFORMATION. ;-)
I see. Thanks for the correction.
"I see that someone on this thread understands the law. Jurors are prohibited from bringing ANY outside materials into their deliberations; they are supposed to rely solely on the testimony they have heard and on the judge's instructions. You can't bring in a Bible, a law textbook, Time magazine - nothing. This ruling has nothing to do with anti-Bible or anti-Christian sentiment. The jurors who did this were idiots."
I'm glad a few people get this. You don't want juries considering anything other than testimony and exhibits that have been entered into the case. I don't want jurors reading "an eye for an eye" or "blessed are the merciful" when trying to make a factual determination.
Moreover, prosecutors and defense attorneys fight tooth and nail over jury instructions. You don't want some mutant who was too stupid to get out of jury duty to second guess jury instructions by debating the finer points of theology or anything else wholly irrelevant to following the damn instructions.
If you guys want to blame someone, blame the moron jurors who apparently didn't learn to follow instructions back in kindergarten.
Cool. If I'm ever selected for jury duty, I'll be sure to mention that I've memorized several key texts... ;-)
I have never had any business on a jury, because I am aware that the court system regularly suppresses relevant facts.
I'm not interested in being a part of a stage play being put on by a crowd of lawyers.
Lawyers (and judges are a subspecies of the breed) go into trial law because acting doesn't pay as well, for the most part.
Lawyers and judges are professional actors who are in it because the pay and power are better than the crapshoot that is "amateur" acting.
Lawyers don't perform heart surgery, nor do they build bridges. It's too much work, and responsibility. :-)
Perhaps you ought to... The quotation to which you're alluding is spoken as part of a conpsiracy to sieze power and install a dictatorship...
Is that what you want?
This one's TOO easy.
We can't have that, though, when we disagree with the outcome! Get the pitchforks and torches! /mocking
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