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>Legal experts say his case is rare, even in Texas, the execution capital of America — and a state that allows capital punishment for people who did not kill an
by gozur88 10y ago
>Legal experts say his case is rare, even in Texas, the execution capital of America — and a state that allows capital punishment for people who did not kill anyone or did not intend to kill.
Forty six US states have Felony Murder statutes. I don't think this is all that rare for states with capital punishment. According to the wiki "...the death penalty may be imposed if the defendant is a major participant in the underlying felony and 'exhibits extreme indifference to human life'."
- ivanca 10y agoOMG I already exhibit extreme indifference to human life; I guess I already have half of the requirements for the death penalty.
- refurb 10y agoCorrect! I'm not sure why Texas is being singled out here. California has this statue as well. If you participate in the commission of a felony crime and someone dies, then you are guilty of felony murder. They have something similar in the EU (e.g. Germany has "with deadly outcomes") where you receive an extended sentence even if you never intended for that person to die.
- honkhonkpants 10y agoCalifornia has executed 13 people in 40 years, and none in the last ten. Texas has executed 500 people in the same time.
- gozur88 10y agoOn the other hand, there are more than 750 people on death row in California. It's not that we don't sentence them to death; it's just that we've created a system where we can't carry out the execution before they die of natural causes.