5 ms·

I was amused by the Texan racial categories: White, Black, Hispanic, Other Spot checking a handful of statements, it seems like most people executed found God,

by dilap 4y ago

I was amused by the Texan racial categories: White, Black, Hispanic, Other Spot checking a handful of statements, it seems like most people executed found God, peace, and remorse at the end. Though at least one person never stopped proclaiming innocence: > I’m not the one that killed Christina, so whatever makes ya’ll happy. I wonder how many on the list were, in fact, innocent.

francisofascii 4y ago
Here are two of the "possibly innocent" comments: Carlos DeLuna #744 > I want to say I hold no grudges. I hate no one. I love my family. Tell everyone on death row to keep the faith and don’t give up. David Spence #773 > I do. First of all, I want you to understand I speak the truth when I say I didn’t kill your kids. Honestly I have not killed anyone. I wish you could get the rage from your hearts and you could see the truth and get rid of the hatred. source: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/innocence/executed-but-possibly-innocent https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/innocence/execute...
- formerly_proven 4y ago
  > The original police homicide investigator, Ramon Salinas, acknowledged in the appeals process that he had serious doubts about Mr. Spence's guilt. In a sworn deposition given to Mr. Spence's lawyers in 1993, Marvin Horton, a former Waco police lieutenant who was involved in the case, said, "I do not think David Spence committed this offense." > The prosecution built its case against Mr. Spence around bite marks -- a state expert said that bite marks on the body of one of the girls matched Mr. Spence's teeth -- and jailhouse snitches, both of which can be highly unreliable forms of evidence. Mr. Spence was already in prison, serving a 90-year sentence for aggravated sexual abuse of an 18-year-old man, when he was indicted for the Waco killings. > Two of the six jailhouse witnesses who testified at trial subsequently recanted, saying they had been given cigarettes, television privileges and alcohol, and one of them had been allowed conjugal visits with a girlfriend, in exchange for their accusations against Mr. Spence. Junk science and bought testimony, that's some sweet sweet justice in yer veins.
jackson1442 4y ago
That's my biggest issue with capital punishment. You can't take it back, if you're wrong you just killed someone's child, parent, sibling, or combination thereof. While being sentenced to years of prison for a crime you didn't commit is also horrible, you can at the very least be released if you're found innocent.
- SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
  AND the search for the real perpetrator can begin again. If an innocent is executed for a crime they didn't commit what are the odds that anyone will be bothered to look for any more evidence ever again? It effectively ends the search for justice.
- guerrilla 4y ago
  You can't take back prison either, so you have reason to reconsider that as well, considering it steals years from someone's life and is torture in many (most?) places.
  - jackson1442 4y ago
    Absolutely. There are many flaws with the American legal system that need to be dealt with, but it'll likely have to happen one step at a time.
  - SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
    Agreed - the American prison industrial complex is ghastly. But if it's down to being in prison or being executed as an innocent person, only one offers a way for conditions to improve.
- conductr 4y ago
  The current process is a middle ground. Stay on death row for decades to ultimately be executed (after likelihood of being found innocent is extremely small). I like the idea of capital punishment because I don't want to pay to keep murderers alive for decades. I feel like the bigger issue is, and what pushes me to think twice on the issue, people get found guilty of murder "without a reasonable doubt" on purely circumstantial evidence and on crappy "eye witness" testimony (people can feel certain they saw something they absolutely did not.) If I were a juror, that wouldn't cut it for me. I'd need pretty hard evidence to give someone the death sentence. If that hard evidence was there, why give them room and board for 20 years before the execution? It's a total waste of money and further drag on society beyond the crime committed.
RangerScience 4y ago
There's some interesting history behind "Hispanic"; here's an example going into it: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/06/16/321819185/on-the-census-who-checks-hispanic-who-checks-white-and-why https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/06/16/321819185...
Enginerrrd 4y ago
1 in 25 maybe? https://www.science.org/content/article/more-4-death-row-inmates-may-be-innocent https://www.science.org/content/article/more-4-death-row-inm...

by dilap 4y ago

francisofascii 4y ago

Here are two of the "possibly innocent" comments: Carlos DeLuna #744 > I want to say I hold no grudges. I hate no one. I love my family. Tell everyone on death row to keep the faith and don’t give up. David Spence #773 > I do. First of all, I want you to understand I speak the truth when I say I didn’t kill your kids. Honestly I have not killed anyone. I wish you could get the rage from your hearts and you could see the truth and get rid of the hatred. source: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/innocence/executed-but-possibly-innocent https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/innocence/execute...

formerly_proven 4y ago
> The original police homicide investigator, Ramon Salinas, acknowledged in the appeals process that he had serious doubts about Mr. Spence's guilt. In a sworn deposition given to Mr. Spence's lawyers in 1993, Marvin Horton, a former Waco police lieutenant who was involved in the case, said, "I do not think David Spence committed this offense." > The prosecution built its case against Mr. Spence around bite marks -- a state expert said that bite marks on the body of one of the girls matched Mr. Spence's teeth -- and jailhouse snitches, both of which can be highly unreliable forms of evidence. Mr. Spence was already in prison, serving a 90-year sentence for aggravated sexual abuse of an 18-year-old man, when he was indicted for the Waco killings. > Two of the six jailhouse witnesses who testified at trial subsequently recanted, saying they had been given cigarettes, television privileges and alcohol, and one of them had been allowed conjugal visits with a girlfriend, in exchange for their accusations against Mr. Spence. Junk science and bought testimony, that's some sweet sweet justice in yer veins.

jackson1442 4y ago

That's my biggest issue with capital punishment. You can't take it back, if you're wrong you just killed someone's child, parent, sibling, or combination thereof. While being sentenced to years of prison for a crime you didn't commit is also horrible, you can at the very least be released if you're found innocent.

SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
AND the search for the real perpetrator can begin again. If an innocent is executed for a crime they didn't commit what are the odds that anyone will be bothered to look for any more evidence ever again? It effectively ends the search for justice.
guerrilla 4y ago
You can't take back prison either, so you have reason to reconsider that as well, considering it steals years from someone's life and is torture in many (most?) places.
- jackson1442 4y ago
  Absolutely. There are many flaws with the American legal system that need to be dealt with, but it'll likely have to happen one step at a time.
- SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
  Agreed - the American prison industrial complex is ghastly. But if it's down to being in prison or being executed as an innocent person, only one offers a way for conditions to improve.
conductr 4y ago
The current process is a middle ground. Stay on death row for decades to ultimately be executed (after likelihood of being found innocent is extremely small). I like the idea of capital punishment because I don't want to pay to keep murderers alive for decades. I feel like the bigger issue is, and what pushes me to think twice on the issue, people get found guilty of murder "without a reasonable doubt" on purely circumstantial evidence and on crappy "eye witness" testimony (people can feel certain they saw something they absolutely did not.) If I were a juror, that wouldn't cut it for me. I'd need pretty hard evidence to give someone the death sentence. If that hard evidence was there, why give them room and board for 20 years before the execution? It's a total waste of money and further drag on society beyond the crime committed.

RangerScience 4y ago

There's some interesting history behind "Hispanic"; here's an example going into it: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/06/16/321819185/on-the-census-who-checks-hispanic-who-checks-white-and-why https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/06/16/321819185...

Enginerrrd 4y ago

1 in 25 maybe? https://www.science.org/content/article/more-4-death-row-inmates-may-be-innocent https://www.science.org/content/article/more-4-death-row-inm...