There should be no death penalty. Conservatives on principal should not support it.
I know you have to excerpt it, but could you at least put in the part of what he actually did?
It is “Party Law.”
If your with someone who commits a crime you are guilty.
I was being questioned for a jury back in the 90’s.
It was about a guy that was driving a car where the other guy broke into a house.
The Judge asked if anyone had any questions, so I asked about “what if it is a bus full of Nuns and the bus driver robs a 7-11?
The Judge dismissed me and I have never been asked to be on a jury again.
So he was an accomplice in a robbery that resulted in murder. He has accomplice liability.
If the law and society allowed I would prefer that hard labor be enacted in place of the death penalty.
I’m guessing I’m in the minority on that though.
Too bad.
No death penalty; one should face God on a daily basis.
Limit the appeals to 3.
This is a textbook case of “play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”
I like to drive, but this case taught me that it might not be prudent in all circumstances.
Lots of excuses in this article; Wood told Reneau not to bring a gun, Wood was only an innocent driver, Wood is mentally incompetent to understand what he was doing, Wood was convicted under a mean spirited law. The only thing missing from this article is something about the victim’s family and what they are facing since the death of store clerk.
The death penalty is not used nearly enough. I sincerely doubt that a truly innocent man is put to death these days.
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/docs/PE/htm/PE.19.htm
Sec. 19.02. MURDER. (a) In this section:
(1) “Adequate cause” means cause that would commonly produce a degree of anger, rage, resentment, or terror in a person of ordinary temper, sufficient to render the mind incapable of cool reflection.
(2) “Sudden passion” means passion directly caused by and arising out of provocation by the individual killed or another acting with the person killed which passion arises at the time of the offense and is not solely the result of former provocation.
(b) A person commits an offense if he:
(1) intentionally or knowingly causes the death of an individual;
(2) intends to cause serious bodily injury and commits an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes the death of an individual; or
*****
(3) commits or attempts to commit a felony, other than manslaughter, and in the course of and in furtherance of the commission or attempt, or in immediate flight from the commission or attempt, he commits or attempts to commit an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes the death of an individual.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), an offense under this section is a felony of the first degree.
(d) At the punishment stage of a trial, the defendant may raise the issue as to whether he caused the death under the immediate influence of sudden passion arising from an adequate cause. If the defendant proves the issue in the affirmative by a preponderance of the evidence, the offense is a felony of the second degree.
*****
At the sentencing, the judge must not have bought his defense.
Commit felony murder in Texas and you might get killed back.
Based on the article, Woods helped plan, execute, and materially support the robbery and murder. He facilitated the killing by transporting the physical killer to the store and standing by with his truck, knowing full well that his “drifter” partner was armed and intended to steal and remove a heavy safe, and that the victim had backed out of their original plan. Unless he was literally a moron (which the WaPo does not even allege), he could foresee the likely result.
Have other people deserved the Death Penalty more? Yes.
Does that mean this defendant should get a pass? No.
It is reasonable that Woods’ relatives are disturbed by the prospect of his execution. I wish he had thought of their feelings before helping murder someone.
He’s white, so he will probably be executed. If he was black, he might have a chance.
No attention to, and no sympathy for, the person who was murdered.
The poor bastard had the bad luck to be white. If he was black, his sappy excuses would be running 24/7/365 on MSNBC.
Misleading headline, misleading article. He deserves execution.
Ed