Seriously, we have all seen cases that seem to cry out for the death penalty, although this one seems more like a commonplace homicided than the aggravated murder that usually results in such punishment. Uncertainty about factual guilt does not appear to apply in this case, as it does all too often when innocent defendants are convicted and executed. However, the issue of disparity surely does apply with respect to both the codefendant (who received a life sentence in exchange for his testimony, even though he was the one who actually committed the murder) and other defendants similarly situated to this one who received much lesser sentences elsewhere for virtually identical misconduct. This is in addition to the incompetence of counsel claim, which has such a high threshold that few defendants can meet the requirements, even with grossly deficient legal representation. There are few states, mostly in the South, that would execute a defendant under the facts and circumstances of this case, or in the case of the mentally retarded defendant who earlier this year was also executed in Georgia. As a southerner, it distresses me to see these states still adhering to some of the relatively primitive approaches to criminal justice that are being largely superceded elsewhere by more enlightened practices.
She drove her lover to the husband's house to wait for him, while she went clubbing to establish an alibi.
The lover put a knife to the victim's neck and forcde him to drive to the killing grounds (that's kidnapping, a felony, makes the subsequent killing felony murder)
When the deed was done (Using weapons supplied by her)she is sent a text message and goes to the scene, where she checks the victim is dead, and uses kerosene she brought with her to torch the husband's car.
She then gives the hitman a lift back and next day reports her husband missing.
” ... we have all seen cases that seem to cry out for the death penalty, although this one seems more like a commonplace homicide[d] than the aggravated murder that usually results in such punishment.”
How did you determine that the circumstances of the case (and especially the wife’s behavior before, during, and after the murder she arranged) were less than “aggravated”?
She WAS offered a deal similar to the one her codefendent took but thought she would beat the charges at trial. Two bad decisions resulted in her execution. She CHOSE her fate both times.