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Switch to Forum Live View Another innocent person "executed"
1 year ago  ::  May 15, 2012 - 12:17PM #1
mountain_man
mountain_man
Posts: 34,142
Here's the story.

A quote: "He was the spitting image of the killer, had the same first name and was near the scene of the crime at the fateful hour: Carlos DeLuna paid the ultimate price and was executed in place of someone else in Texas in 1989, a report out Tuesday found."

I'm not suprised this happened in Texas.

How many innocent people have to be murdered by the government before some start to realize that capital punishment is just plain wrong?

How many times must a man look up,
before he sees the sky?
And how many ears must one man have,
before he can hear people cry ?
And how many deaths will it take till we know,
that too many people have died?

The answer my friend is blowing in the wind,
the answer is blowing in the wind.
Dave - Just a Man in the Mountains.

I am a Humanist. I believe in a rational philosophy of life, informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by a desire to do good for its own sake and not by an expectation of a reward or fear of punishment in an afterlife.
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1 year ago  ::  May 15, 2012 - 1:15PM #2
Iwantamotto
Iwantamotto
Posts: 6,131

Just once I'd like to see a falsely-executed person story that isn't over 15 years old before modern forensics.

Knock and the door shall open.  It's not my fault if you don't like the decor.
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1 year ago  ::  May 15, 2012 - 1:20PM #3
mountain_man
mountain_man
Posts: 34,142

That shouldn't matter since killing people is wrong.

Dave - Just a Man in the Mountains.

I am a Humanist. I believe in a rational philosophy of life, informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by a desire to do good for its own sake and not by an expectation of a reward or fear of punishment in an afterlife.
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1 year ago  ::  May 15, 2012 - 2:00PM #4
Yavanna
Yavanna
Posts: 3,149

May 15, 2012 -- 12:17PM, mountain_man wrote:





How many innocent people have to be murdered by the government before some start to realize that capital punishment is just plain wrong?



It's a good question, I don't know. I don't understand how killing even ten thousand evil people is worth the loss of one innocent life.

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,
While hammers fell like ringing bells
In places deep, where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls beneath the fells.

For ancient king and elvish lord
There many a gloaming golden hoard
They shaped and wrought, and light they caught
To hide in gems on hilt of sword. - J.R.R. Tolkien
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1 year ago  ::  May 15, 2012 - 2:04PM #5
MysticWanderer
MysticWanderer
Posts: 1,225

In this case the justice system failed TWICE!   First an innocent man was wrongly executed.  Second because of sloppy police work the guilty man remained free and killed another. "Modern forensics" may have done little in this case as there was little evidence to examine.  Eyewitnesses are notoriously unreliable as any rookie cop aught to know.

"Not all who wander are lost" J.R.R.Tolkein
You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do. ~Anne Lamott
"Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain."
Friedrich von Schiller
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1 year ago  ::  May 15, 2012 - 2:06PM #6
Yavanna
Yavanna
Posts: 3,149

May 15, 2012 -- 2:04PM, MysticWanderer wrote:


In this case the justice system failed TWICE!   First an innocent man was wrongly executed.  Second because of sloppy police work the guilty man remained free and killed another. "Modern forensics" may have done little in this case as there was little evidence to examine.  Eyewitnesses are notoriously unreliable as any rookie cop aught to know.




It's a cause for concern when our peace officers mistake themselves for police.

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,
While hammers fell like ringing bells
In places deep, where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls beneath the fells.

For ancient king and elvish lord
There many a gloaming golden hoard
They shaped and wrought, and light they caught
To hide in gems on hilt of sword. - J.R.R. Tolkien
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1 year ago  ::  May 15, 2012 - 2:18PM #7
Tpaine
Tpaine
Posts: 8,197

The problem I have with capital punishment is that if the person is later proven innocent he or she can't be brought back to life. English jurist Sir John Fortescue wrote in his De Laudibus Legum Angliae (c. 1470), "Indeed, one would much rather that twenty guilty persons should escape punishment of death than that one innocent person should be condemned and suffer capitally." This later became known as Blackstone's formulation.


Here is a Link to an article about 8 innocent people who were wrongly executed.

"When it shall be said in any country in the world, my poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive; the rational world is my friend, because I am a friend of its happiness: When these things can be said, then may the country boast its constitution and its government." -- Thomas Paine: The Rights Of Man (1791)
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1 year ago  ::  May 15, 2012 - 2:32PM #8
Yavanna
Yavanna
Posts: 3,149

May 15, 2012 -- 2:18PM, Tpaine wrote:


The problem I have with capital punishment is that if the person is later proven innocent he or she can't be brought back to life. English jurist Sir John Fortescue wrote in his De Laudibus Legum Angliae (c. 1470), "Indeed, one would much rather that twenty guilty persons should escape punishment of death than that one innocent person should be condemned and suffer capitally." This later became known as Blackstone's formulation.


Here is a Link to an article about 8 innocent people who were wrongly executed.





Thank you, Tpaine! I'm going to go read more about Fortescue right now. =)

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,
While hammers fell like ringing bells
In places deep, where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls beneath the fells.

For ancient king and elvish lord
There many a gloaming golden hoard
They shaped and wrought, and light they caught
To hide in gems on hilt of sword. - J.R.R. Tolkien
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1 year ago  ::  May 15, 2012 - 7:25PM #9
REteach
REteach
Posts: 13,195

Modern forensics? That doesn't matter. The state does not have to test DNA they have to see if the right person was convicted. In fact, Texas has not wanted to. 

I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize what you heard was not what I meant...
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1 year ago  ::  May 15, 2012 - 9:50PM #10
mountain_man
mountain_man
Posts: 34,142

May 15, 2012 -- 2:00PM, Yavanna wrote:

It's a good question, I don't know. I don't understand how killing even ten thousand evil people is worth the loss of one innocent life.


They only want revenge, they don't worry about the few innocents that get in their way. It doesn't matter anyway; capital punishment is just plain wrong. It makes no sense to kill people to show that killing people is wrong. It does nothing but devalue all human life.

Dave - Just a Man in the Mountains.

I am a Humanist. I believe in a rational philosophy of life, informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by a desire to do good for its own sake and not by an expectation of a reward or fear of punishment in an afterlife.
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