"Texas Inmate Executed Despite Legal Battle"

[GreenPartyVoter]

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - A man convicted in a 1992 murder case in which the troubled Houston police crime lab allegedly mishandled evidence was executed Tuesday evening despite last-minute legal battles and pleas from relatives of the murder victim that his life be spared.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas had blocked Dominique Green's execution after his attorneys argued boxes of improperly stored and catalogued evidence kept by the Houston Police Department crime lab and recently discovered could contain information relevant to the case.

The reprieve was later lifted by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant a last-minute stay.

"There was a lot of people that got me to this point and I can't thank them all," Green said, speaking in a barely audible voice. "I am not angry but I am disappointed that I was denied justice. But I am happy that I was afforded you all as family and friends. I love you all. ... Please keep my memory alive."

The execution was the 18th this year in Texas and the fifth this month.

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20041027/D85VFING1.html

[BattyDem]

1. I want to know ...

what was the big, f*ckin' rush? Why did they have to execute him now? He wasn't going anywhere! If the evidence didn't clear him, he could still be executed later ... and if it did clear him, the execution of an innocent man would have been avoided. :mad:

[Solon]

2. This type of shit pisses me off...

Its not whether he was guilty or innocent of the crime, but the fact that Death Penalty cases can even have these types of irregularities and people find it acceptable. The system CANNOT be fixed, because it is not perfect, why not err on the side of caution and actually not execute potentially innocent people?

Those who support the death penalty, in spite of all the evidence of such mistakes, are either immoral or don't care about individual rights at all.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. I used to support it in cases of child rape and murder etc, but the more

I learn about the fallibilities of our legal system, the less I can support it. Too many innocents are being murdered to give peace of mind to other victims. It isn't right.

[Solon]

5. That does it for me too...

not to mention the racial bias and inequalities for African Americans. I have no problem with the death penalty on paper, so to speak, but in the real world, it leads to innocents dying needlessly, so I could never support it.

This brings up a interesting thing, since most people take it personally like what if the victim was your son/daughter/other family member, but I was watching Law and Order: SVU one night. Anyways, in this episode this woman's daughter would not wake up in the morning, she was sent to the hospital and the doctors said she was in a coma due to an embillism. The mother was divorced from the father, and he and the stepfather were suspects. Fluids were taken from a rape kit, and the father was cleared by a DNA test. The Stepfather fought the DNA test, by the next day he was dead, beaten to death by the father. However, after that, a DNA performed on his body exonerated him from the abuse as well, and implicated his son, the victims step brother. It was a messed up episode, and shows the flaws in vigilante justice as well.

Should the father, who planned (1st Degree Murder)to kill the stepfather for his percieved crimes, be given the death penalty in such a case?

[smirkymonkey]

11. Same here...

What the fuck is it with Texas anyway? They just love to execute people. Sickening.

[baldguy]

4. Just who is on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals?

Chief Judge Carolyn Dineen King - Nominated by Jimmy Carter on April 30, 1979
Reynaldo G. Garza - Nominated by Jimmy Carter on April 30, 1979
Thomas M. Reavley - Nominated by Jimmy Carter on May 17, 1979
Fortunato P. Benavides - Nominated by William J. Clinton on January 27, 1994
Carl E. Stewart - Nominated by William J. Clinton on January 27, 1994
James L. Dennis - Nominated by William J. Clinton on January 31, 1995


Will Garwood - Nominated by Ronald Reagan on September 17, 1981
E. Grady Jolly - Nominated by Ronald Reagan on July 1, 1982
Patrick E. Higginbotham - Nominated by Ronald Reagan on July 1, 1982
W. Eugene Davis - Nominated by Ronald Reagan on November 1, 1983
Edith H. Jones - Nominated by Ronald Reagan on February 27, 1985
Jerry E. Smith - Nominated by Ronald Reagan on June 2, 1987
John M. Duhé Jr. - Nominated by Ronald Reagan on June 27, 1988
Jacques L. Wiener, Jr. - Nominated by George H.W. Bush on November 17, 1989
Rhesa H. Barksdale - Nominated by George H.W. Bush on November 17, 1989
Emilio M. Garza - Nominated by George H.W. Bush on April 11, 1991
Harold R. DeMoss, Jr. - Nominated by George H.W. Bush on June 27, 1991
Edith Brown Clement - Nominated by George W. Bush on September 4, 2001
Edward Charles Prado - Nominated by George W. Bush on February 6, 2003
Charles Willis Pickering, Sr. - Received a recess appointment from George W. Bush on January 16, 2004 (Remember this guy?)

http://www.lb5.uscourts.gov

THIS is why Kerry HAS TO WIN!

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. May Kerry pick the most liberal judges he can find, and may they actually

get appointed. (Should he take a page from *'s book and be sneaky about recess appt's?)

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

7. My very first post!!

OK, so... I was discussing this topic with a Repub at work. I pointed out that, given our justice system - the death penalty is bad news because too many innocents are being killed.

His response absolutely BAFFLED me. He said, "Maybe they're innocent of THAT crime... but are they really innocent?" Meaning, he feels that only "bad" people end up accused. Hence, it's OK to kill THOSE people even if they did not commit the specific crime for which they are being executed!!

OMG! What kind of a world do we LIVE IN? We cannot let people who think that way make legislative decisions for a second more.

Jeebus help us all.

[Puglover]

8. I made the mistake of

going to Lucianne.com and reading a post about this. The people there were practically licking their chops at this. It was amazing. They totally ignored the tiny fact that hey may have been innocent.

[Puglover]

Oh and welcome to DU Cyndee

:toast:

[Puglover]

9. Oh and welcome to DU Cyndee

:toast:

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

10. Thank you!

I have been an avid reader for a looong time. Love it and looking forward to bonding with like-minded intelligent folks like yourselves. Glad to be here.

[newyawker99]

12. Hi Cyndee_Lou_Who!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[It was not a pretzel]

15. Right winger are not only bad but also dumb

They always say they'd rather see the odd innocent person killed rather than give up the death penalty- Do these idiots not realise that for every innocent killed a guilty person goes free?

[shrike]

13. If my loved one was murdered, I'd want the right one punished

I surely wouldn't want an innocent man or woman punished so the cops or whomever could clear their books.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

14. That is insane

Couldn’t they shut down the assembly line executions here long enough to review the possible new evidence? I just don’t get what harm it would’ve caused to look at his case again. This is exactly why I don’t support the death penalty!