Death warrant signed for killer

[Laughing Mirror]

By Tarron Lively
October 22, 2004
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

A Prince George's County judge yesterday signed a death warrant for Heath William Burch, who is on death row for the 1995 fatal stabbing of an elderly Capitol Heights couple, a move that could result in a second execution in Maryland this year.
...
Burch, who is black, was found guilty in 1996 in the March 19, 1995, burglary, robbery and murder of his neighbors Cleo Davis, 78, and Robert Francis Davis, 72, in their Norfield Road home in Capitol Heights.
...
Burch's defense attorneys said their client was high on PCP and crack cocaine and was not aware of his actions.
...
Burch would be the first person in more than 50 years to be executed for a crime committed in Prince George's County. If the execution takes place this year, it would be the first time since 1959 that Maryland has executed two death row inmates in the same year.((emphasis mine))

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20041021-105227-2389r.htm

As we digress into the 21st century ...

[Larry Tyler]

1. what would the suggestion be

that would effectively remove him from society, not cost the taxpayer billions to enforce, and at the same time bring closure to the family of the victims.

He stabbed Mr. Davis more than 30 times with a pair of scissors and killed Mrs. Davis as she tried to call the police, prosecutors said. He then fled in the couple's pickup truck, with some guns and $105 in cash.

I think that in the past the death penalty was used a bit too much, but in Maryland it is very limited in its use. example would be that Virginia insisted on trying the "snipers" before Maryland could because they were afraid that Maryland would not punish them for the crimes.

I live not too far from where all of this is going on. I see it in the daily local news, perhaps the death penalty is too steep a price to pay, but what alternatives are there that would satisfy society?

I wish I knew the answer because the death penalty does not satisfy my God. All I can do is pray for forgiveness for being part of a society that does this, and pray for the wisdom to know the alternative to stop it.

[goju]

2. I would think

spending your life in prison would be a greater hardship than death, but Ive never had to go through either.

Speaking in just economic terms, I do believe its cheaper to keep people in prison for their life than it is to kill them, with the appeal process and all. Not sure on this one. Maybe the family should have some say in the punishment?

[Columbia]

3. I agree

Life is always cheaper than the death penalty due to the mandatory appeals and such that the death penalty requires.

Additionally, with unreliable testimony that may be affected by coercion and new technology that may exonerate convictees, there is no reason to mete out punishments that you can't take back.

Any idea if Kerry will impose a nationwide death penalty morartorium?

[FatSlob]

9. He can't.

The President would have no right to impose a moratorium on the Death Penalty. He doesn't have power over the judiciaries of the states. Any attempt would be unconstitutional.

[jkupski]

18. There's more than one way to skin a cat

The President would have no right to impose a moratorium on the Death Penalty. He doesn't have power over the judiciaries of the states. Any attempt would be unconstitutional.

Considering that US Attorneys General are part of the executive and not the judicial branch, they could be ordered by the president to not seek the death penalty in cases that would meet the standard for such. Simple, clean, constitutional.

For the record: I support the concept of the death penalty, but believe significant reform is required--the current system obviously doesn't work, and if it's better for a thousand guilty men to go free than one innocent be convicted, what does that say about killing an innocent man?

[Jack_DeLeon]

5. IMO

were it me I would like to think that if I were ever sentanced to life in prison without any chance of parole, and more so if I were sentanced to death I would definately try anything in my power to escape.

Atleast with the death penalty they cant escape after they are dead.

[Jack_DeLeon]

4. The drugs made him do it....

Burch's defense attorneys said their client was high on PCP and crack cocaine and was not aware of his actions

It could be true, however if he himself choose to take those drugs of his own free will I still believe that its entirely his own fault and he should still face the death penalty.

I'm totally for the legalization of many if not all drugs, but drug use should not be an excuse to get you any sort of reduced sentances for crimes committed under the influence.

[Pert_UK]

6. A quote from Trainspotting that seems appropriate.....

"The fact that you were on drugs explains your actions, it does not excuse them."

Similarly for drink driving - would you have crashed if you weren't drunk? Maybe not, but that doesn't mean you escape punishment for it...

[LibLabUK]

7. Hmm..

Can't you claim "diminished responsibility" in the case of substances or illnesses that affect the way in which you think?

And wouldn't a finding of diminished responsibility usually result in a lesser sentence?

[mosin]

8. "Diminished responsibility"

Committing a murder under the influence of a voluntarily-ingested intoxicant could, in many states, be a factor that would influence a jury or judge away from the death penalty on sentencing, but would generally not reduce culpability.

An illness, mental or physical, that impacts judgment, however, can reduce or eliminate culpability for a crime.

The laws vary quite a bit, however, from state to state.

[iverglas]

13. substances

"The fact that you were on drugs explains your actions, it does not excuse them."

I'm afraid that I find that simplistic, at bottom.

Addiction is one of the most serious problems that a criminal justice system has to deal with.

There are other factors that a reasonable person does regard as "diminishing" personal responsibility in some way, to some extent, in the non-legal context, at least. And that people of goodwill, people who genuinely wish to reduce harm rather than just to punish other people, have to consider, in the legal context. For example, the very fact that so many abusers, of various types, were themselves abused suggests pretty strongly that there is some element of causation at work that is in some way, to some extent, beyond the control of the affected individual. Addiction, too, seems to be in some ways beyond individual control (since some people become dependent and others don't, and given the role that genetics may play in it).

People who clearly know that what they are doing is not acceptable, and that it causes harm, do it anyway. It's unfortunately still beyond our ability to figure out how the causal connection works, how the causal chain is broken by some individuals (the ones who don't perpetuate the chain of abuse, for example, or who manage to avoid or defeat a dependancy), or what we could do to assist them in breaking it.

The law and the courts have struggled with the issue for a very long time. There's the whole "general intent" vs. "specific intent" dogma: that intoxication is not a defence for assault, which requires only "general intent", but is a defence for sexual assault and homicide, which require a "specific intent" that an intoxicated person is not capable of forming.

The law and science do not form comfortable partnerships, and unfortunately the law is usually the one lagging behind.

This isn't an issue in respect of the death penalty itself, of course. There's no science involved on the part of its adherents; just primitive aggression of the kind that the law is normally meant to restrain.


If the cost to the "taxpayer" is the issue, then hell, why not just execute shoplifters and have done with it? Or allow them to be shot on sight, and not bother with courts at all. Life would be so much ... cheaper ... then.

[TX-RAT]

10. "A quote from Trainspotting that seems appropriate....."

Well said.

[enfield collector]

11. why do they feel the need to tell us he's black?

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[rot0r_head]

15. I tripped on that too

If he was a white man would they have wasted the ink to say so?

Seems to me like a pander to the old racist fears of Negro Ned coming for the white women.

[Laughing Mirror]

17. Anybody's guess

My first thought when I read that was that, in an indirect way, the article wanted to get in the information that one of the two death row inmates executed this year in Maryland for the first time in 45 years was black. The other guy, Steven Howard Oken, was the 30th death row convicted murderer executed in U.S. in 2004 and the 915th since 1976. In Maryland, he was the 1st executed in 2004 and the 4th since 1976.

Oken was white, although the article does not say this. Maybe it is the house editorial style at the Washington Times not to mention race if the person is white, or to only mention it if black. Who knows?

[FatSlob]

14. Fry him.

Get it over with. He brought it upon himself.

[pen]

16. From the article he was aware of his actions.

If he had enough awareness to steal the money and drive a car, let alone kill two people, he was aware of what he was doing.

He knew it was wrong because he fled the scene. Had he been so affected by the drugs he would have been still in the house or wandering around.

Sound like a good job by the courts. Now they need to hurry up the appeals process and put him in the ground.