US: The Arkansas executions, first blood

[Adam Jensen]

And here's why the death penalty should be abolished.

You can fix a wrongful imprisonment. You cannot fix a wrongful execution.

"Oh I'm sorry, he was innocent, we'll just suck the poison out of him, zap him with electricity, raise him from the dead, and give him a compensation of a million dollars."

Nah, that's how you get zombies.

[Ghostpanther]

Oh, so this man can be brought back to life if it ends up being a wrongful conviction?

Of course not. But my response was to say things such as wrongful prosecution has happened here and they been corrected to the best of the states ability. It is not unique to other countries. :P

[Docturphil]

[SIZE=4]I don't have any words for this. I think the UN should intervene and punish every1 involved. We can't stand by and do nothing while we let this massacre go ahead.

The circumstances surrounding the execution of this prisoner certainly seem sketchy. But you want to involve the UN in this with all the other shit going on in the world? Come on...

[Ghostpanther]

I know that the defendants lawyer brought up evidence that the court didn't examine. I know there were fingerprints that didn't match the defendant. And that blood was used as evidence against the defendant but never had any tests done on it.

And that is ALL the evidence?

[Tyrianth]

Of course not. But my response was to say things such as wrongful prosecution has happened here and they been corrected to the best of the states ability. It is not unique to other countries. :P

What's unique to other countries is that we don't allow the government to pick and choose who lives, because we know they make mistakes.

[Tay098]

He was found guilty without the fingerprints, blood, or hair sample results. So the other evidence was obviously enough to convict. What does it matter if they find the pizza guy's hair at the house as well?

I didnt follow this case, so i have no idea if he did it or not. He was found guilty. He was sentenced to death. His appeal was denied by multiple courts. Im not going let some blanket statement in a headline like "He was most likely innocent" magically convince me the state is out to kill people for giggles.

[Wikko]

How else would you do it and still stay within the bounds of the Constitution?

Do it like they do in most countries. With professional judges ruling on convictions. They can leave the emotions out of the trial and then it becomes justice in it purest form, where you must provide tangible evidence. It's much more reliable than a bunch of non-professionals deciding first hand their guilt based on their own prejudices.

[Tyrianth]

And that is ALL the evidence?

Doesn't matter if that's all the evidence or not. It's a fucking death penalty trial. Every single bit of evidence should be examined to ensure 100% certainty. Not "pretty sure".

[Moadar]

I was not there for the trial and know all the details. But yeah, I do trust the prosecution in this case when you see the other information of crimes he has committed. I do think Capital Punishment is warranted in some murder cases.

I like how the bleeding hearts ignore the fact he has been convicted of multiple crimes of the same nature and is without a doubt a piece of shit. Even if you put aside the case in question he still deserved what he got.

[Tyrianth]

I like how the bleeding hearts ignore the fact he has been convicted of multiple crimes of the same nature and is without a doubt a piece of shit. Even if you put aside the case in question he still deserved what he got.

Doesn't matter if he was convicted of multiple crimes in the past. Those crimes were already judged and sentenced, none of which were death penalty sentences.

[JohnBrown1917]

I like how the bleeding hearts ignore the fact he has been convicted of multiple crimes of the same nature and is without a doubt a piece of shit. Even if you put aside the case in question he still deserved what he got.

That is not how the justice is supposed to work, he got convicted of a crime they have no solid proof for.

[Tay098]

I like how the bleeding hearts ignore the fact he has been convicted of multiple crimes of the same nature and is without a doubt a piece of shit. Even if you put aside the case in question he still deserved what he got.

exactly. That unidentified blood. Yea it wasnt the victims. he must be innocent. ends up that was the blood of a different victim. sorry.

[Ghostpanther]

Do it like they do in most countries. With professional judges ruling on convictions. They can leave the emotions out of the trial and then it becomes justice in it purest form, where you must provide tangible evidence. It's much more reliable than a bunch of non-professionals deciding first hand their guilt based on their own prejudices.

We have a Constitution which gives us the right to a trial by our peers. A Jury. Not one single person all the time which may have their own prejudices. Even as a Judge. :P

[breadisfunny]

And here's why the death penalty should be abolished.

You can fix a wrongful imprisonment. You cannot fix a wrongful execution.

"Oh I'm sorry, he was innocent, we'll just suck the poison out of him, zap him with electricity, raise him from the dead, and give him a compensation of a million dollars."

Nah, that's how you get zombies.

i disagree. what needs to happen is the judicial process needs a overhaul in how they handle cases. much stricter requirements for securing a guilty verdict and getting rid of the random citizen jury system and replacing it with one based on facts and logic. also not allowing the press in during court proceedings.

[Tay098]

That is not how the justice is supposed to work, he got convicted of a crime they have no solid proof for.

where do you come to the conclusion that they have no solid proof? just because they have things that dont prove he did it....doesnt mean it proves he DIDNT do it...

[Moadar]

That is not how the justice is supposed to work, he got convicted of a crime they have no solid proof for.

He did terrible things and had something terrible done to him, sounds like justice to me. Just because it might not have happened the way you like doesn't mean it wasn't a good outcome.

[Ghostpanther]

I like how the bleeding hearts ignore the fact he has been convicted of multiple crimes of the same nature and is without a doubt a piece of shit. Even if you put aside the case in question he still deserved what he got.

Yep. Exactly how I feel. You do not want to be executed, then do not act like a scum bag and hurt other people in brutal ways. I do not feel sorry for him.

[Tyrianth]

i disagree. what needs to happen is the judicial process needs a overhaul in how they handle cases. much stricter requirements for securing a guilty verdict and getting rid of the random citizen jury system and replacing it with one based on facts and logic. also not allowing the press in during court proceedings.

You say that, but a few posts up you just said you side with the prosecution. The same prosecution that sought the death penalty while not being willing to examine every bit of evidence. So much for "stricter requirements for securing a guilty verdict".

[Gaaz]

That is not what the UN does. They could try, but would be laughed at. Capital Punishment in the US was ruled Constitutional by our Supreme Court and that trumps whatever any country's opinion is on the subject. The odds are extremely low a innocent person is going to be executed. I mean one who has actually been found innocent later after a execution. Not estimates by the anti- capital punishment crowd.

Because after the fact investigations of a dead person sure draw a lot of attention and people readily accept and state that "they fucked up" and "killed an innocent man".... Come on! I am personally not super against death penalty. But this has to be the last resort and to be applied only in beyond all shadow of doubt cases. If there is even a miniscule and remote chance that the person is not guilty, it should not be on the table at all. This particular case is just wrong.
PS. I also do not think that injection and electricution is the most humane way (if that term can even be applied here).

[JohnBrown1917]

He did terrible things and had something terrible done to him, sounds like justice to me. Just because it might not have happened the way you like doesn't mean it wasn't a good outcome.

It was a failure of the justice system. That system not working properly is not a good sign./