Why Is He Still Alive

[SassyIrishLass]

Death penalty cases are rarely caught on tape. It's based on circumstantial evidence.

He owned it, confessed... what part of that are you missing? Granted some murder convictions could be questionable but this isn't one of those

 

[meaner gene]

Couldn’t agree more.

We should have a special track for death penalty cases (if we’re going to have a death penalty).

Way too much of a delay between sentence and the carrying out of the death penalty. I personally do not feel we should have a death penalty but if we’re going to have one, it should be a deterrent equally applied. The current system doesn’t serve justice.

To do that, executions would be based on assurity of evidence, and not the chronological order.
Many death penalty cases are circumstantial. And the standard is reasonable doubt, not beyond all doubt.

That's why hundreds of convicted people, have been later exonerated by DNA evidence.

 

[leftwinger]

He admitted killing her. He confessed and even taunted the family. He should be dead, dead, dead.

He blew kisses at the father in court.

The real travesty is he had recently been let out. He was pulled over in the middle of nowhere (2lane NorCAL road) late night (2AM) with girl in trunk. How did he get a car, license, registration? The PC cop let him drive away. Can’t make this stuff up. He had no business driving there at that time! She made no noise.

 

[leftwinger]

This. That's a lot of years, a lot of state money for housing, food, healthcare, and the fact he was drawing in oxygen that could have been better used by others.
He should have been put down a long time ago. There was no doubt about his guilt.

Probably $100K per older CA inmate by now. Was $75K decades back. Maybe $75K in general population for younger ones.

 

[Auld Phart]

To do that, executions would be based on assurity of evidence, and not the chronological order.
Many death penalty cases are circumstantial. And the standard is reasonable doubt, not beyond all doubt.

That's why hundreds of convicted people, have been later exonerated by DNA evidence.

That's why hundreds of convicted people, have been later exonerated by DNA evidence.

still waiting for that link.

 

[meaner gene]

hundreds?

really?

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, 575 wrongly convicted people have been exonerated based on DNA tests that demonstrated their innocence since 1989.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, 575 wrongly convicted people have been exonerated based on DNA tests that demonstrated their innocence since 1989.

How many of those confessed to raping and murdering a little 12 year old girl?

You're trying to bring something into a situation where it doesn't fit. He confessed and should be dead

 

[Woodznutz]

The death penalty is evading the responsibility of America for creating so many vicious killers. Is this another case of the lack of social programs needed to prevent the worst outcome for both the killers and even more so their victims?

Social responsibility is far less expensive than the American way of the death penalty. And what is more important than a wallet?

Most murders are a result of lack of self-control and fragile male ego. The only remedy would be a solid intact family with dad at the helm.

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, 575 wrongly convicted people have been exonerated based on DNA tests that demonstrated their innocence since 1989.

And this isn’t one of them.

 

[meaner gene]

When there is no doubt as to who the killer is, there is no reason for them to sit in a prison cell for decades (much less years). No doubt means they admitted to the crime, DNA backs that up, there could be witnesses that saw it, video evidence, etc.

For those with no proof of evidence where probable cause comes into play, I could go along with them sitting in prison.

For the killer in the opening post, he should have been executed a LONG time ago - 7 days after sentencing wouldn't have been soon enough.

A jury convicts beyond a reasonable doubt, not where there is no doubt.
There would have to be a separate system that certifies the level of doubt based on the evidence.
Even confessions aren't absolute,

Of all the convicted people who have been exonerated by DNA testing, almost 30 percent confessed to crimes they didn't commit, according to the nonprofit legal rights group The Innocence Project.

 

[leftwinger]

It was nearly two months after Polly's disappearance that investigators caught a break, one that they would later find out occurred in the hours after the incident.

Dana Jaffe, who lived in Santa Rosa, called the Sonoma County police after she noticed a car was stuck in a ditch on her long, secluded driveway. It was a few hours after Polly's disappearance.

Jaffe told "20/20" that the driver appeared to be very suspicious.

"He was disheveled, and he reeked, just reeked," Jaffe said. "I would say he was panic-stricken and I smelled fear."

 

[SassyIrishLass]

A jury convicts beyond a reasonable doubt, not where there is no doubt.
There would have to be a separate system that certifies the level of doubt based on the evidence.
Even confessions aren't absolute,

Of all the convicted people who have been exonerated by DNA testing, almost 30 percent confessed to crimes they didn't commit, according to the nonprofit legal rights group The Innocence Project.

He confessed. Want to talk about questionable convictions and DNA start your own thread

 

[leftwinger]

The police came to the scene and spoke with the driver, who they said was nervous and sweating and had debris on his clothes.

After pulling his car out of the ditch, the police released the driver. At the time the officers were unaware of the APB about Polly's kidnapping because it was not broadcast on their radio channels, according to Cross.

"It wasn't an error, per se, and it wasn't anyone's fault, but that was a pivotal thing," she said.

A search of his driver's license did not turn up any current warrants against him. The officers did not check for any criminal history, as it wasn't standard practice at the time, investigators said.

 

[Donald H]

Most murders are a result of lack of self-control and fragile male ego. The only remedy would be a solid intact family with dad at the helm.

I agree on your recommendation as being one of several answers.

But the question still remains on what caused the lack and the fragility? Could it be avoided in most cases if there was social intervention at childhood?

Granted, there is no 100% answer, but could it be that America could succeed say 80% of the time? Other countries do!

 

[meaner gene]

that doesn't surprise me in the least - but what do you want? it's texas. the same' pro life ' state that puts up barbed wire that rips to shreds humans so they don't enter it.

That's part of the problem with death penalty cases. Different states put different safeguards against error.
One state could convict based on shaky evidence, and public pressure to convict somebody, while other states allow appeals based on new evidence, DNA evidence, and scientific methods not available at the time of their conviction.

50 states. 50 different sets of standards.

 

[meaner gene]

He owned it, confessed... what part of that are you missing? Granted some murder convictions could be questionable but this isn't one of those

Is the assurity based on opinion or on fact.
Even confessions are questionable. Over 4% of confessions come from innocent people.

 

[meaner gene]

still waiting for that link.

google "the innocence project" They will document over 500 such cases

 

[playtime]

That's part of the problem with death penalty cases. Different states put different safeguards against error.
One state could convict based on shaky evidence, and public pressure to convict somebody, while other states allow appeals based on new evidence, DNA evidence, and scientific methods not available at the time of their conviction.

50 states. 50 different sets of standards.

unless or until federal legislation makes it federal law based on constitutional reasoning - where that becomes the 'supreme law of the land ' ... then it will remain within the states' legislatures.

 

[leftwinger]

CA Police could have saved her. Late night, x-con stuck in a ditch? Huh? How? Why? Where going? Coming from? Car was Moving (left roadway) into ditch? Parking? Why did he need to park there? WHY? Are they on dope? Nobody asked anythibg?

They pulled him out? What are they Triple AAA? Usually they lock you up then and there. Failure to Maintain control of your vehicle is a cide violation.

 

[Auld Phart]

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, 575 wrongly convicted people have been exonerated based on DNA tests that demonstrated their innocence since 1989.

google "the innocence project" They will document over 500 such cases

I did

they listed less than 500

since 1989