[zCLadw3R]

David Lee Powell, 58, of Campbell, is scheduled for execution Tuesday. Powell was convicted of capital murder in 1978 for the shooting death of Ralph Ablanedo, a police officer. The officer had stopped Powell’s vehicle for a traffic violation when Powell opened fire with an AK-47 machine gun. The incident occurred in Austin while Powell was a student at the University of Texas. Powell was a valedictorian of Campbell high school.


No tears shed here for this guy.

[BegeMoT]

'78. What took so long?

[veizKinquiz]

That has to be a record for time on death row in Texas. Thye , usually, do not delay much down there.

[zCLadw3R]

With appeals I think it's averaging around ten years. I'm pro death penalty for certain crimes. Just the thought of getting the injection may save some victim their life out there then it's all worth it. We have some real animals on death row. Our tax dollars are feeding them and the cost is unreal.

I know there is always a chance of an innocent person getting convicted. But I do think the appeals court is fair and does a good job reviewing the cases. This is the one argument to the Death Penalty I don't have a good answer for. It is pretty final but enough time elapses for new evidence to emerge. I do think it does deter some criminals from doing worse things. But there are too many out there who hurt and maim, we will always have those kind.

[zCLadw3R]

I also believe that we are less likely to suffer a home invasion in the rural areas in Texas. The main reason is most citizens are armed with firearms and will shoot back. I am very pro citizen right to bear arms.

But I guess there are those who will try no matter what the consequences.

[EzekelEnzino]

Yes, we had a good citizen a few years ago down here in my area that killed two pieces of human offal coming out of his neighbor's home after robbing it.

Some of Farrakan's bunch tried to have a protest in the neighborhood but got a huge shock when loads of people surrounded this man's house and street and protected him. Shouted the protestors down and many motorcycle clubs were there and everytime he tried to speak they revved their bikes so loud no one could hear him.
Sent Mr. X packing. It was really wild. I have always been, but was really proud of my fellow Texans that day.

[zCLadw3R]

Yea, I remember about that. He was an older man wasn't he? farrakan is a joke, it would be different if the thieves were breaking in his house.

[reiruviartugs]

The American legal system is based on the belief that it is better to set 100 men free then to wrongfully imprison and innocent. Unfortunately, that statement makes death row even that much more difficult because you have so many appeals and legal issues. It can take a long, long time before all of it is exhausted.

Up by where I live, we had a home invasion where a teenager was shot and killed by a guest that was house sitting. The kids specifically broke in to steal firearms. The teenager's family was extremely upset with the prosecutor refused to prosecute. They tried to blame everyone but the teenager for his death. I was at function in town with one of his family members who was swearing he was a good kid and would never do anything wrong. They didn’t appreciate me pointing out that the “good kid” was in someone else’s house illegally and attempting to steal from it when he was shot. His actions led to his death. If he had been a good kid and stayed out of the house, he would still be alive.

[veizKinquiz]

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[veizKinquiz]

Just checked Scheck's site (it is the "innocence project"). Over 250 exonerations via DNA since 1989(not sure if these were all capital cases. Probably not, and I imagine they include sexual assaults, as well).
In any case, according to the map of the US showing exonerations by state, Texas has had 40 convictions overturned based on DNA.
I think it is pretty safe to assume that there are other innocent folks that are convicted where biological evidence is not available to exonerate them.

Must be tens of thousands of folks who are innocent in prison and even more, historically, that have been executed.

[Leczyslaw]

The death penalty was abolished in Canada in 1976 or 1977 at a time where the majority of Canadians supported it. But there was an over-riding concern: the execution of innocent persons. And my understanding is that this concern...the concern of killing even one innocent person... informed state thinking and the death penalty was abolished.

I doubt it would ever come back. And we have other safeguards in place when it comes to public safety, such as dangerous offender legislation under which a person can be given an indeterminate sentence. This was used for Paul Bernardo...if anyone is from Canada..you know the name. He'll never get out of prison as he was classified as a 'dangerous offender' (costs us money since bernardo's prison time is funded by the public purse...but imo it is worth the money - my tax dollars - to lock up bernardo type guys so that we don't risk killling even one innocent life).

we have a few famous wrongfully convicted cases, like the Marshall kid (led to an inquiry here).

Now I'm not saying I wouldn't be going for blood if I were victimized....but in the end, the idea of killing people sits wrong with me...no matter what the person did....it just sits wrong with me.

KitKat

[zCLadw3R]

It's an imperfect world. But with dna and appeals and the amount of time they spend on death row, there is a good chance of things correcting themselves. But eyewitness testimony and eyewitness identification is always suspect. But if they are convicted with DNA, there are many cases where it is proven even above reasonable doubt, I still think it deters crime.

[ArrichMer]

well, I guess I think that execution is too easy for the really evil ones. I say "hard labor for life". I want to see them busting rocks day in and day out in the sun with their food served in a pot that they have to eat with their hands.

Let them repay society with hard hard sweaty labor....enough work to pay for some of their upkeep.

Now that would deter crime for some of these lazy selfish people--except, of course, the narcisstic bastards never think they'll get caught.

[zCLadw3R]

Work? Hard labor? To the bleeding hearts that's cruel and unusual punishment. We must provide them with nice air conditioned cells where they can have their gang meetings, train themselves on weights then off to the b ball court, or to the dominoe table.

Sad they have better living conditions than our soldiers in the field.

[reiruviartugs]

I like the idea of inmates working for their room and board. I'm sure we can get some kind of labor out of them to help the betterment of the state they are incarcerated in. Of course the most vile and violent of them would have to do something that would lead to minimal risks.

I also support castration for violent sex offenders, repeat sex offenders and child molesters. I’ve dealt too much with these scum bags in the past to want to even think of them on the streets again.

[EzekelEnzino]

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[veizKinquiz]

Presumably, there would be some form of female castration equivalent, since female on male child molestation is so common, as well. Perhaps they could be sealed up with concrete or super glue.

[Nashhlkq]

I'm against the death penalty, not for humanitarian reasons but for monetary ones:

In the United States: "research shows that it's actually less expensive to incarcerate someone for life than it is to execute them. Lengthy appeals and red tape designed to assure that the utmost caution is taken before ending a life drag the pre-execution process on for decades -- and millions in legal fees."

And besides, in the case of Joran Van der Sloot, who allegedly killed Natalee Holliway in Aruba 5 years ago and who is now in a Peru prison for murdering a woman last month in Lima. Forgive me but I find it more comforting that this handsome 22 year old will probably be someone's b#tch for as long as he is incarcerated than if he were executed.

[veizKinquiz]

Yeah, it is expensive, and innocent folks get executed. I doubt it has much of a deterrent effect, as well. Just not a good idea.

[EzekelEnzino]

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