Court says first death row inmate under 1995 New York law cannot face execution

Associated Press ^ | 7-9-02 | JOEL STASHENKO

[Oldeconomybuyer]

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) --

[TheBattman]

Oh please---

since when does an offered plea bargain make a sentence un-constitutional? Is htis not SOP for law enforcement/prosecution?

[lepton]

Even though Harris did not take that offer, and went to trial instead, the law was coercive because an innocent man, threatened with death, might be tempted to plead guilty to save his life, past rulings have said.

Perhaps.

In addition, the law was unconstitutional because a person who sought a jury trial faced extra punishment -- death -- merely for asserting his right to such a trial, the court has said.

That's just a reference-point swap, and as such is silly. On the other hand, parole does the same thing in convincing criminals that they've gotten over on the system when they serve only a portion of a sentence, rather than stating the sentence with prestated penalties for misbehavior.

[razorback-bert]

Accept the states' offer or it will try to kill you.

This is why somes states have a separate pently trial.