100th person executed in Virginia since death penalty reinstatement.

[papapi]

"Tell my kids I love them, and let's get it over with. Make people happy. Help celebrate the murder."

JARRATT, Va. (AP) -- A man who killed a store owner by sawing at his neck with a pocketknife during a 1997 robbery has become the 100th person executed in Virginia since capital punishment was reinstated three decades ago.

Robert Stacy Yarbrough was pronounced dead at 9:28 p.m. Wednesday at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt. The 30-year-old was put to death by injection for the 1997 slaying of 77-year-old Cyril Hugh Hamby.

Yarbrough's last words were, "Tell my kids I love them, and let's get it over with. Make people happy. Help celebrate the murder."

The U.S. Supreme Court and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine refused to block the execution earlier Wednesday.

Virginia ranks second to Texas in the number of executions since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. Texas has executed 406 since then.

http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=8556787

[theboss]

1. Sawing at his neck with a pocketknife?!?!?!?

Good heavens.

[babylonsister]

2. Just imagine yourself..."sawing at his neck with a pocket knife."

Or imagine your kid, mom, dad, wife, whomever. If he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, his quote doesn't move me at all.

[lonestarnot]

3. We would be better for letting him rot himself away the rest of his life in a box.

[babylonsister]

6. Why? nt

[lonestarnot]

7. An eye for an eye (in this case a neck) makes the world blind.

[babylonsister]

9. Nah. There are some very bad people out there. If

proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, I say they shouldn't enjoy the same air as we do.

[lonestarnot]

11. So would you like to personally cut their throats?

[varkam]

13. Sometimes you wonder...

[lonestarnot]

16. varkam, I always wonder.

:hi: good to see you!

[babylonsister]

18. That's nasty. And no. nt

[lonestarnot]

26. Well then why would you have someone else do your dirty work for you?

[babylonsister]

40. Why do you support child rapists, or serial murderers? Because

that makes you feel better? Your support would be your dirty work. Have at it.

[lonestarnot]

41. You are silly. Support a child rapist, those are fighting words! Serial killers GW Bushitler et al

Yeah I've been here for nearly 5 years supporting that fuckwad! Snort! :rofl: Absurd. Put them in a box and leave 'em for the rest of his/her life. He'll learn.

[nadinbrzezinski]

36. Death penalty should be carried out on TEEVEEE on every channel

and people should be forced to watch

It is not always clean, or fast

But those who advocate it in particular, should be forced to carry it out for the state by lottery

Factoid the death penalty had lost a lot of its cache and moved behind the prison yards, as people were demanding it be abolished

It should move back out... I predict its life would be measured in at most a decade if this was done and people were forced to watch

[lonestarnot]

42. ghoulish.

[Rick Myers]

4. Bye Bob!

See ya in Hell...

[varkam]

5. And we still shouldn't of killed him. eom

[lonestarnot]

8. No we shouldn't have!

:toast:

[papapi]

10. Judge sentences William Morva to death

"There’s nothing more I can do, but there are others like me and I hope you know that and soon they’re going to get together,” says Morva. They’re going to sweep over your whole civilization and they’re going to wipe these smiles off of your faces forever. That’s all.”

WSLS News Staff
Published: June 23, 2008

Updated 5:39 p.m.
Montgomery Co., VA
By Ashley Roberts
[e-mail]

William Morva’s formal sentencing was filled with emotional outbursts from the widow of one of the men he’s convicted of killing as well as Morva saying everything he didn’t during his trial.

“I don’t think that anyone in this courtroom except for very small handful of people do have any empathy or compassion because I think that people in here are sick with greed,” says Morva.

Morva also says he’s innocent, unlike the rest of the world, which he says is filled with evil people who get away with things.

His words were a little bit too much for the victims’ families, especially Derrick McFarland’s widow, Cindy.

MORVA: And you think you will always get away with it. You believe this because you always have for thousands of years.

CINDY: Is that what your sorry {explicit} thinks? You didn’t show no mercy when you killed my husband and took my children’s father you {explicit}. You deserve to burn in hell.”

Cindy’s heated statements forced security to escort her out of the courtroom.

Cindy’s words didn’t stop Morva from making one last promise.

"There’s nothing more I can do, but there are others like me and I hope you know that and soon they’re going to get together,” says Morva. They’re going to sweep over your whole civilization and they’re going to wipe these smiles off of your faces forever. That’s all.”

And that’s all the judge needed to hear before making his decision to sentence Morva to death.

He’ll spend the next 120 DAYS behind bars on death row, until he’s scheduled execution on October 21, 2008.

Derrick McFarland’s father, Harold, says today at the formal sentencing, and at Morva’s trial, his family received closure.

------------

Original Story 11:12 a.m.

A judge sentences William Morva to death.

The decision was announced in a Montgomery Co. court, just after 11:00 a.m. this morning.

Morva was convicted of capital murder in March by a jury for the deaths of hospital security guard Derrick McFarland and Montogmery Co. Sheriff’s Corporal Eric Sutphin, both killed in August of 2006.

The jury had recommended the death penalty.

Morva spoke to the court for the first time in the case. During his diatribe, the widow of Derrick McFarland got up and yelled at Morva that she hoped he “Burns in Hell.”

Stay tuned to WSLS and wsls.com for more updates.

http://www.wsls.com/sls/news/local/new_river_valley/article/judge_sentences_william_morva_to_death/12971/

[varkam]

12. So, we're supposed to kill him because he's a crazy dick?

Are we supposed to kill him because he says outrageous things and makes us upset? :shrug:

[HowHasItComeToThis]

14. THEY CERTAINLY HAVE A VENGEFUL GOD IN VIRGINIA

MAKE THE PUNISHMENT WORSE THAN THE CRIME.


THE CRIME WAS TERRIBLE, THIS JUST MAKES IT WORSE

[lonestarnot]

17. It makes murderers of those doing the killing. Do they have any remorse? Just because the state

says it's ok? Hmmmmf not!

[papapi]

15. My senior thesis was "The Death Penalty: Is It Legitimate Punishment?"

I reached no reasonable conclusion. It was a long, long time ago when I wrote it. I still cannot decide if the death penalty is right or wrong.

[babylonsister]

19. Thank you. I'm on the fence, but some people really deserve

consideration.

[papapi]

22. Do you mean the death penalty should be considered in certain cases?

[Solon]

23. It doesn't matter if its right or wrong, its a system of punishment in which there is no...

reasonable way to rectify mistakes in the application of the punishment. Such mistakes are inevitable in our system of justice, or any system for that matter, the Justice system is imperfect, by default. In addition to this, the justice system itself shows a bias against minorities and the poor, and the death penalty is no different.

As such, to err on the side of caution, the death penalty should be eliminated, until such time that we can resurrect the dead, it is, by far, one of the worst forms of injustice that can be perpetuated against people.

[papapi]

25. You think it's wrong. That's clear. Thanks.

[Solon]

27. I never said it was right or wrong...

I said that it was imperfectly applied, and as such, shouldn't be applied at all. In a perfect world, I would have no problem supporting it, but we don't live in a perfect world. Even more confusing, in a perfect world, it wouldn't be needed either, but I think you get the idea.

[papapi]

31. I do. Like I said, I don't know if it's right or wrong...

your post hasn't helped me decide.

[Solon]

33. I think of it in a reductionist fashion as to what does less harm...

Certain things do need to be done to remove dangerous individuals from society, that much is clear, but we also know, for a fact, that not everyone who ends up being removed from society is actually guilty of the crimes that lead to their removal from society. As such, any such removal should be done with the expectation that it be reversible. The Death Penalty, unfortunately, isn't reversible, at least not yet. So, in order for the justice system to actually reduce harm, the death penalty would have to be abolished.

[papapi]

34. I wrote my thesis on the subject. I know the arguments well...

I know that the system isn't perfect. The death penalty doesn't deter crime. Mistakes have been and will probably continue to be made. Some would argue that confining an innocent person indefinitely is as wrong as the death penalty. No restitution can restore lost years. My tendency at this time is to abolish the death penalty, but I don't buy the idea that families find no closure after an execution.

It's a volatile issue for sure.

[Solon]

37. Closure for victim's families shouldn't even be on the radar...

The fact is that any appeal to emotion on this issue is foolhardy, because it varies so much, some families feel no closure, others do. Yet deaths in families, regardless of circumstances, are almost always tragic, especially when people are taken at young ages or unexpectedly. But that isn't the issue, the issue is how the death penalty is applied, and frankly the only argument that matters is whether it can be applied to only those who are absolutely, 100% guilty. Unfortunately, that isn't the case, and can never be the case, we aren't perfect, and neither are our institutions perfect, the most we can do is reduce the mistakes through appeals processes, etc. but even then, some innocent people will end up getting executed. That's simply unacceptable.

[varkam]

38. Precisely my thinking.

Such matters should not be determined upon emotional grounds. One of the very reasons that we even have a system of justice is so that families of the victims do not decide the perpetrator's fate.

[iquiring mind]

20. Obama is in favor of the death penalty

Did you see his response to the recent SCOTUS decision barring the execution of a man found guilty and sentenced to death for the rape and murder of his 8 year old step-daughter?!?!

CHICAGO (AP) - Democrat Barack Obama said Wednesday he disagrees with the Supreme Court's decision outlawing executions of people who rape children, a crime he said states have the right to consider for capital punishment.

"I have said repeatedly that I think that the death penalty should be applied in very narrow circumstances for the most egregious of crimes," Obama said at a news conference. "I think that the rape of a small child, 6 or 8 years old, is a heinous crime and if a state makes a decision that under narrow, limited, well-defined circumstances the death penalty is at least potentially applicable, that that does not violate our Constitution."
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080626/D91HG4H00.html

[papapi]

21. This story has caused a dust up on this board tonight.

His support of the death penalty doesn't affect my decision to vote for him at all.

[iquiring mind]

24. I looked for it on the Latest and didn't see any posts

I'll look again to see what's being said.

[papapi]

28. Here's some of the posts.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3521809

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3521645

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6412055

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6411631

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6411549&mesg_id=6411549

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6411393&mesg_id=6411393

[iquiring mind]

35. Thanks for the links, they're what I was looking for

[lonestarnot]

30. Nor mine.

:fistbump:

[lonestarnot]

29. He is not the end all to all of our problems and doesn't clain to be.

[papapi]

32. Agreed. In my opinion, he's the only choice I have.

So I will support him any way I can. I have been supporting him for quite a while now.

[sofa king]

39. How lame.

Most of those cases had a mandatory appeal which sucked up hundreds of hours of court administration time each, and created years of paperwork, much of it paid for with tax dollars which could have been going to other branches of law and enforcement. It doesn't even create space for all the other people we so profligately lock away.

And as an atheist, I'll also point out that there's almost certain to be some evil jerk on that list who deserved some supreme-ass punishment. The death penalty ended that punishment early for them.