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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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Posted on 01/17/2003 8:17:15 AM PST by fporretto
(Editor's Note: The following is a reprint of an award-winning column originally published June 20, 2000, in light of this past weekend's actions by Illinois governor George Ryan, who commuted the sentences of every Illinois death row inmate.)
Breakfast conversation ranges far and wide at Sparky's Diner, where the problems of any given day are dispatched with the finest Texas wisdom. Or not. So, I should not have been surprised to find myself in the middle of the current death penalty debate.
A study out of Columbia University found 68 percent of all death penalty cases appealed between 1973 and 1995 were overturned because of serious errors. Anyone getting his or her news from the usual media suspects may have thought this country's prisons are full of innocent men and women being sent to their deaths by a heartless society of blood-thirsty heathens. Anyone, that is, except Sparky's regulars, who at times seem more like Afghan Taliban.
"I don't see what all the shouting is about," said Piney Woods from behind a pile of newspaper clippings. "Look at this. Says here that of all those death sentences, just five percent were carried out. Doesn't sound like a wholesale slaughter of innocent people to me."
"That's right," agreed Bob Frapples. "Of all those murderers who got retrials, only seven percent turned out to be innocent. That's an important point, I think. Just because the rest of them got lesser sentences doesn't mean they didn't kill anybody."
Al Carbon decided to play devil's advocate. "Don't you think there's a problem when you have lawyers who fall asleep during the trial, or who don't even try to defend their clients?" he asked. "I read that incompetent defense lawyers and misconduct by prosecutors were the main reasons these sentences got overturned. That's pretty bad."
"Sure it's bad, but we're not killing people every day, like some folks would have us believe," said Piney. "In fact, according to this study, you got 95 chances out of a hundred that you won't die. That's better odds than their victims had."
"Plus, with as long as it takes to go through the appeals process, there's plenty of time to come up with new evidence," said Bob Frapples.
"Like DNA testing, sure," said Piney. "I got some good and bad stories about that, though. Look. Here's a case in Arkansas where a guy told his former wife where the body of a murdered schoolgirl could be found. They arrested him nine years later on DNA evidence. Then the judge wouldn't allow the wife's statement in court. And then the prosecutor had to dismiss the charges because the FBI tested the wrong strand of hair. But here's another story that new DNA tests have linked a Maryland convict to a 1986 murder. So it works both ways."
"And don't forget that jurors get to decide who's guilty or not," Bob added. "Over in New Orleans some jury set a man free, even though an eyewitness, who was a minister, picked his picture out of a photo lineup twice. And guess what. The judge sentenced the victim's daughter to six months in jail for contempt of court for screaming at the murder suspect after the guy was acquitted. Go figure."
"You've been pretty quiet," said Al Carbon, turning to me. "How come you're not jumping into this?"
Because it's not an easy thing, I answered. Lots of folks complain about our criminal justice system, but they can't come up with another country where it's any better. And as for capital punishment -- it's probably wrong, but the victims' families need some type of closure. Life in prison usually means you're out in about eight years. Life without parole or sentences of 350 years just keep the killers off the streets, but do nothing for the families. Maybe if we kept the killers behind bars without TVs or radios, without exercise yards, without telephones and letters, and without sunlight and warmth -- in other words, as good as dead without being dead -- then everyone would be a little happier.
"Everyone except those civil rights nuts who believe murderers are misunderstood Boy Scouts," said Piney.
Then I look at Indiana death row inmate William Minnick to get a perspective on this whole debate, I said. Minnick has been on death row for exactly 18 years, twice as long as the state's average. On October 26, 1981, Minnick tortured, raped, sodomized and stabbed to death Martha Gail Payne in her home in Greencastle. Recovered evidence placed him at the crime, and he gave a taped confession. A jury convicted him of murder, rape and robbery, and he was sentenced to death on June 10, 1982. His conviction was reversed on appeal two years later because the confession was obtained outside the presence of his attorney.
In 1985, a second jury reconvicted him, and he was again sentenced to die, and the victim's family was again forced to relive their trauma. His 1989 appeal was rejected, but not before the family was dragged back into court. Then, last year, Minnick's petition for a rehearing was denied. And so it goes on and on, dragging through the system, through the years, without closure for this family.
My three companions nodded their heads slowly. Then Bob Frapples spoke up. "Why is it you know so much about this case?" he asked.
Because Martha was my sister-in-law, I answered.
Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit the Palace Of Reason:
http://palaceofreason.com
It's the only motivation addressed by the article.
and possibly an underappreciated one.
The article doesn't do anything to help that, as it proceeds to discount it.
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