Quote:
Originally posted by Spanky
RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- New DNA tests confirmed the guilt of a man who went to his death in Virginia's electric chair in 1992 proclaiming his innocence, the governor said Thursday.
The case had been closely watched by both sides in the death penalty debatebecause no executed convict in the United States has ever been exonerated by scientific testing.
If the death penalty system in this country is so screwed up why is this the case?
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I actually look at this news as saving the death penalty. Had he turned out to have been innocent, I think there is a decent chance that several states would have removed the death penalty, and several more would have had every case in their system tied up for years to the point where the voters would get sick of the expense.
My question is why do people think that commuting a death sentence to life imprisonment is a satisfactory alternative? If the guy is innocent (or was convicted without due process), why should be be locked up at all, let alone for life? I'm surprised that a more cynical AG hasn't figured out that he should just recommend commutation in close cases because as soon as the sentence is commuted, no one cares any more and the guy rots away in a cell, regardless of his innocence.
