Posted on 02/01/2006 1:51:46 AM PST by Former Military Chick
ATLANTA - A moratorium should be placed on seeking the death penalty in Georgia because the state cannot ensure fairness in trials and appeals, according to a new report by the American Bar Association.
The 323-page report found seven flaws in Georgia's administration of the death penalty.
For example, Georgia is the only state in the nation that does not guarantee lawyers for death row inmates' habeas corpus appeals, which challenge the constitutionality of convictions and sentences and sometimes result in new trials, the report found.
And, of the 26 states that prohibit executing the mentally retarded, the report says Georgia has the toughest standards for proving a defendant is retarded.
"The purpose of this (study) is to move the system forward so that it's more capable of providing evenhanded justice on a consistent basis," said Anne Emanuel, associate dean of the Georgia State University law school and chair of the study.
The report was prepared by 10 prominent Georgia lawyers and political figures. All 10 members of the assessment team, except Donnie Dixon, a former U.S. attorney in Savannah, recommended the moratorium.
Dixon said Saturday he supported many of the report's findings but felt most death penalty cases had been handled properly.
State officials also do not agree with a moratorium.
Asked if Gov. Sonny Perdue would consider a moratorium, his spokesman, Dan McLagan, said simply: "Nope."
Attorney General Thurbert Baker, through a spokesman, said he does not agree with the call for a moratorium.
The report also found that race remains a factor in convictions, with convicted murderers of white victims much more likely to receive a death sentence than those with black victims.
Citing surveys, the report also says too many jurors misunderstand a judge's instructions about what evidence they can consider when deciding on the death penalty.
"Death sentences resulting from juror confusion or mistake are not tolerable," the report said.
Harold Clarke, retired Georgia Supreme Court chief justice and a member of the American Bar Association study team, supports a moratorium.
"There are too many instances - and one's too many - where folks are convicted and turn out not to be guilty," Clarke said, "and then there are some more that we probably never know about."
But prosecutors argue that existing safeguards are adequate. They note there is no known instance of an innocent person being executed in Georgia.
"Georgia is very careful and very deliberate in its imposition of the death penalty," said Dougherty County District Attorney Ken Hodges, vice chairman of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia. "The defendant in a capital case is given every right afforded him or her under the U.S. and Georgia constitutions. They get a heck of a lot more constitutional protections than the victims, who are heinously, brutally raped and murdered."
Hodges cited the case of William Marvin Gulley, who killed an 81-year-old Albany woman and raped her 60-year-old daughter. The state Supreme Court overturned Gulley's death sentence last summer after finding his lawyers failed to show jurors that Gulley saved the lives of two people in 1992.
"The system worked," Hodges said.
He said he later agreed to a sentence of life without parole for Gulley because the victims' family did not want another trial.
One woman and more than 100 men currently reside on Georgia's death row.
Good guy!!
and then we get off because we didn't have competent representation.
"Hodges cited the case of William Marvin Gulley, who killed an 81-year-old Albany woman and raped her 60-year-old daughter. The state Supreme Court overturned Gulley's death sentence last summer after finding his lawyers failed to show jurors that Gulley saved the lives of two people in 1992."
Oooooh, I see...he killed two people but also saved two people so it balances out. I think the Georgia Supreme Court needs some new members.
At the rate of one execution per month CA will take about 50 years to clear the cases we have on death row today. The system either needs to be streamlined or we might as well realize what's going to happen.
I've been watching episodes of the UK series "Cracker" recently and I listen to the characters threaten multiple murders with "life" which translates to 30 years actually served, for example. Somehow these sentences just don't seem to carry the weight of justice.
A quarter century on "death row" is far too long. Part of me hopes as the cases get more and more modern and DNA evidence eliminates doubts, it'll eliminate a lot of the appeal bases and mean a shorter time on death row prior to the jury's sentence being carried out. I say "part of me hopes" because I know full well the anti-capital punishment types and defense attorneys will find new ways to prolong the processes.
What happened to the axiom, "Justice delayed is justice denied?"
How do we know his lawyers didn't withold that information as part of an appeal strategy?
I too, live in Georgia. I wish we would find a way to limit the appeals of convicted death row inmates to one appeal only, and a 18 month maximum time allowed until execution is carried out. The endless delays in appealing thru state courts, federal courts, etc. is not only unfair to the taxpayers, but also the victim's family. The only reason this isn't being done is all of the so-called "legal representatives" of the convicted murderers get money from the states and continue the delaying process. It is crazy, and needs major reform now!
There is a big move to turn back criminal justice reform. The Left wants to go back to "rehabilitation" rather than punishment. They have been afraid to mouth this stuff for twenty years because of all the blood in the streets the last time they had control of our criminal justice system. I guess they figure enough Americans have forgotten what it was like to live next door to the mass murderer who was "rehabilitated" and rleased.
Does everyone remember rehabilitation? The left used this mentality to blame society for crime and demand expansive socialist programs to stop crime at it's root. Racist America - that would be white men - were ordered to give up their rights in reverse discrimination schemes in the name of stopping violence in the cities. Victims of crime were shouted down if they demanded justice - they were "racist" if the colors fit or mean spirited. We spent buckets of money on "rehab" and crime increased to the point where all of society was held captive to the "rehabilitated" criminals on the streets. It goes on and on.
We don't want to revisit that again.
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