America going soft on capital punishment

[freshapple]

Should he have been there in the first place?

Maybe not but he shouldn’t have done the murder.

 

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The DP is wrong for many reasons, many of which are shown up in this case. An innocent man executed after just 41 years on death row. He maintained his innonce throughout.

Missouri Man Executed After Long Fight for Exoneration

Marcellus Williams, who was convicted of a 1998 murder in suburban St. Louis, maintained he was innocent. But the courts and the governor were not persuaded.

www.nytimes.com

Marcellus Williams

The Death Penalty Information Center is a non-profit organization serving the media and the public with analysis and information about capital punishment.…

deathpenaltyinfo.org

 

[Saul Goodman]

The DP is wrong for many reasons, many of which are shown up in this case. An innocent man executed after just 41 years on death row. He maintained his innonce throughout.

Missouri Man Executed After Long Fight for Exoneration

Marcellus Williams, who was convicted of a 1998 murder in suburban St. Louis, maintained he was innocent. But the courts and the governor were not persuaded.

www.nytimes.com

Marcellus Williams

The Death Penalty Information Center is a non-profit organization serving the media and the public with analysis and information about capital punishment.…

deathpenaltyinfo.org

I'm 100% against the death penalty but which bit of that says he's innocent?

 

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I'm 100% against the death penalty but which bit of that says he's innocent?

"Mr. Bell, a Democrat who recently won the Democratic primary for a congressional seat, also wrote that there was ample reason to believe that Mr. Williams was innocent. He detailed multiple issues with the credibility of the two key witnesses against Mr. Williams and noted that Mr. Williams was not the source of footprints or hairs found at the crime scene, nor of DNA found on the murder weapon."

 

[Saul Goodman]

"Mr. Bell, a Democrat who recently won the Democratic primary for a congressional seat, also wrote that there was ample reason to believe that Mr. Williams was innocent. He detailed multiple issues with the credibility of the two key witnesses against Mr. Williams and noted that Mr. Williams was not the source of footprints or hairs found at the crime scene, nor of DNA found on the murder weapon."

"A hearing on Mr. Bell’s motion was scheduled for August. But just before that date, his office received a new analysis of the DNA on the murder weapon, a kitchen knife. Instead of pointing to an unknown suspect, which would have bolstered the case for Mr. Williams’s innocence, the analysis showed that the knife had been handled by a prosecutor and an investigator at the trial."

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

The accused shouldn't be proving innocence. The state should be proving guilt.

 

[Dystopiary]

I'm 100% against the death penalty but which bit of that says he's innocent?

See also here:

Man Faces Execution on Sept. 24 Despite Evidence of Innocence

The State destroyed or corrupted the evidence that could conclusively prove his innocence and the available DNA and other forensic crime-scene evidence does not match him.

Technically it might not have been possible to prove 100% beyond a shadow of any doubt that he was innocent, same goes for thousands and thousands of people who've been acquitted, but there's a lot of evidence that strongly suggests he was. The conviction was dodgy and the subsequent dismissal of relevant info even more so.

Governor Greitens recognized that the new DNA results raised serious doubts about Mr. Williams’s guilt, and he convened a Board of Inquiry to investigate the case. Under Missouri law, the stay was to remain in place until the Board of Inquiry concluded its review and issued a formal report.

However, in June 2023, while the Board of Inquiry’s review remained ongoing, Governor Mike Parson without warning or notice dissolved the Board without a report or recommendation from the Board. Immediately after Governor Parson dissolved the Board of Inquiry, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey sought a new execution date.

Mr. Williams filed a civil suit against Governor Parson because the dissolution of the Board without a report or recommendation violated Missouri law and Mr. Williams’s constitutional rights. After a Cole County judge denied the Governor’s motion to dismiss this lawsuit, the Governor persuaded the Missouri Supreme Court to intervene.

On June 4, 2024, the Missouri Supreme Court dismissed Mr. Williams’s civil lawsuit and immediately scheduled his execution for Sept. 24.

The whole rotten system is heavily weighted against Black men.

 

[Saul Goodman]

See also here:

Man Faces Execution on Sept. 24 Despite Evidence of Innocence



Technically it might not have been possible to prove 100% beyond a shadow of any doubt that he was innocent, same goes for thousands and thousands of people who've been acquitted, but there's a lot of evidence that strongly suggests he was. The conviction was dodgy and the subsequent dismissal of relevant info even more so.



The whole rotten system is heavily weighted against Black men.

Absolutely, the whole system is rotten to the core. I've seen far too many cases of innocent people getting framed by cops in America. I'm just not certain enough about this case. I don't see sufficient evidence to support the claim that he was innocent.

 

[Saul Goodman]

The accused shouldn't be proving innocence. The state should be proving guilt.

They already did that.

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

They already did that.

Correct. But (and I'm talking generally here, rather than this specific case) the fresh new evidence, or the witness statements retracted, or the flaws in chain of custody of evidence, or anything pertaining to the case; none of it has to prove innocence. It has to cast reasonable doubt on the conviction.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Correct. But (and I'm talking generally here, rather than this specific case) the fresh new evidence, or the witness statements retracted, or the flaws in chain of custody of evidence, or anything pertaining to the case; none of it has to prove innocence. It has to cast reasonable doubt on the conviction.

Indeed, which is why the death penalty should be scrapped. Reasonable doubt should be used to ascertain whether or not the death penalty should be allowed, and given that more than one person has been exonerated after being sentenced to death, it obviously shouldn't be an option.

 

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In Marcellus Williams case, there were so many other things wrong with his conviction and not just guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
But I'm with Saul Goodman, the death penalty is wrong.

 

[frogwoman]

Six days of horror: America’s thirst for executions returns with a vengeance

Five executions, five states: a glut of judicial killing not seen in 20 years took place last week – and there was nothing random about it

www.theguardian.com

Ffs

 

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Six days of horror: America’s thirst for executions returns with a vengeance

Five executions, five states: a glut of judicial killing not seen in 20 years took place last week – and there was nothing random about it

www.theguardian.com

Ffs

Very uncomfortable and sickening reports. How do those governors sleep at night

 

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Not directly related but as goog a place as any to put this. Many countries appear to be easing the use of the death penalty while Singapore gets worse, especially for drug crimes. Meanwhile, they are also silencing opponents of the penalty

Singapore Moves Further Out of Step on Death Penalty

While several Asian governments have taken steps to reduce their reliance on capital punishment, Singapore marks the 22nd World Day Against the Death Penalty by continuing to execute death-row prisoners and muzzling anti-death penalty activists.

www.hrw.org

 

[Dystopiary]

There's a petition to save a man from execution for a crime that didn't occur.

He's been on death row for 20 years.



Stop the Oct. 17 execution of Robert Roberson, an innocent father

Robert Roberson was spared at the last minute. For now.

Judge blocks execution of Robert Roberson in controversial shaken baby case

 

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If he is finally proven innocent that will be 20 of the best years of his life that he has lost on death row. Very upsetting for him and all his family etc.