U.S. court halts execution of Texas man who killed his daughters
Source: Reuters
U.S. court halts execution of Texas man who killed his daughters
Reuters
By Jon Herskovitz
9 hours ago
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court halted the execution planned for Wednesday of a Texas a man who killed his two daughters at his Dallas apartment while the girls' mother listened on the phone, hearing the gunshots and her children's screams.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said a counsel for death row inmate, John Battaglia, 60, had abandoned him for part of his appeal process and the offender should have his execution halted as a result.
The move came hours before Battaglia was set to receive a lethal injection at the state's death chamber in Huntsville.
Battaglia's lawyers also launched last-minute appeals on other grounds, arguing he should be spared because he suffers from bipolar disorder, which was not properly considered in sentencing.
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-execute-man-murdered-two-daughters-110344507.html
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TipTok
(2,474 posts)montana_hazeleyes
(3,424 posts)fullautohotdog
(90 posts)good.
Coventina
(26,844 posts)The DP is not about what the criminal has done, but about who we are.
This guy certainly "deserves" to die (at least on the surface of things), but we are a society of humanity, not vengeance (I hope).
groundloop
(11,486 posts)I've read about cases over the years where people were convicted of crimes at least as awful as this, put to death, and evidence later came out proving their innocence. As a society we need to rid ourselves of the death penalty, even for people as awful as this. There are far far too many innocent people put to death.
graegoyle
(532 posts)Such as innocence?
christx30
(6,241 posts)Can't say I blame the attorney. I could not go in every day, knowing I'm trying to make things better for this piece of crap.
It's true that every defendant is entitled to a rigorous defense. But nothing says that I have to be the one doing it.
No paycheck is worth the damage to one's soul.
tabasco
(22,974 posts)he'd be dead by now.