Troy Davis' Clemency Denial: The Failure of a Legal "Safety Valve"
POSTED BY: Niki2
UPDATED: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 16:31
VIEWED: 5136
PAGE 2 of 3
Skywalken,
I don't like Ann Coulter, too much of her stuff is partisan; and I have my doubts about redstate
but I also saw a statement as fact that a t-shirt was found in Troy Davis' washing machine immediately after the shootings, that had the cop's blood on it. It was suppressed at trial as tainted fruit of an illegal search. ( EDIT--- got it half right. That was in your piece from redstate, and it was shorts, not shirt. Still hard to explain.)
That doesn't mean it didn't exist. I've only seen it mentioned once, so I can't confirm it as fact, but if that's true, even though inadmissable, that puts a different light on things. I don't see any way of explaining that shirt away. ANd I don't see where the defense tried to explain it anywhere, just get it suppressed.
Davis also took part in several other crimes of violence that same night, was involved in the shooting of at least one other person.
None of that proves he was guilty, of course, but it surely casts doubt on any characterization of him as a totally innocent angel wrongly convicted, casts doubt on the doubt, if you will.
It's not my job to be sure of his guilt, that was the jury's, but I think he might have been.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:
"The one in the white shirt used a brown revolver to pistol-whip the vagrant."
Hello,
How odd. I have never seen a brown revolver. Does anyone know what make/model the revolver was?
--Anthony
_______________________________________________
"In every war, the state enacts a tax of freedom upon the citizenry. The unspoken promise is that the tax shall be revoked at war's end. Endless war holds no such promise. Hence, Eternal War is Eternal Slavery." --Admiral Robert J. Henner
If he was pistol-whipping him with the butt end of the revolver and it had wood grips, it would appear brown.
"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill
Hello,
Is that what they meant? How odd. I guess no two people will describe anything the same way.
--Anthony
_______________________________________________
"In every war, the state enacts a tax of freedom upon the citizenry. The unspoken promise is that the tax shall be revoked at war's end. Endless war holds no such promise. Hence, Eternal War is Eternal Slavery." --Admiral Robert J. Henner
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I am against the death penalty, period. I used to be on the fence, and still probably have about four toes on that fence, but for the most part, I'm on the anti-death-penalty side. We can virtually never "know" 100%, those are very rare cases. The death penalty is absolutely no deterrent...in fact it might have caused deaths by perps afraid to leave witnesses. We have no more right to take a life than anyone else does. The courts make mistakes. The police aren't necessarily honest all the time. Essentially, too many ways for it to go wrong.
And last, but by far not least, it costs MUCH more to put someone to death, what with legal fees, etc., than it does to incarcerate them for life. That's a biggie to me, tho' not up there with taking a life and possible mistakes.
I'm ashamed for my country, and the world is disgusted by us. We are still a nation of cowboys and gun slingers in many ways. Although change IS happening, in that, while still in the minority, those of us against it are a growing segment of the population.
Someone (I can guess a few) will ask if I wouldn't want the death penalty if someone I loved was killed, etc., so I will pre-answer. No I would not. There is no "justice" achieved by killing someone; I can't know what made them they way they are; it accomplishes nothing; I would NOT want anyone hollering for blood if I was killed; and the death penalty is revenge, nothing more.
Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off 
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Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:
"The one in the white shirt used a brown revolver to pistol-whip the vagrant."
Hello,
How odd. I have never seen a brown revolver. Does anyone know what make/model the revolver was?
--Anthony
_______________________________________________
"In every war, the state enacts a tax of freedom upon the citizenry. The unspoken promise is that the tax shall be revoked at war's end. Endless war holds no such promise. Hence, Eternal War is Eternal Slavery." --Admiral Robert J. Henner
If he was pistol-whipping him with the butt end of the revolver and it had wood grips, it would appear brown.
"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill
Hello,
Is that what they meant? How odd. I guess no two people will describe anything the same way.
--Anthony
_______________________________________________
"In every war, the state enacts a tax of freedom upon the citizenry. The unspoken promise is that the tax shall be revoked at war's end. Endless war holds no such promise. Hence, Eternal War is Eternal Slavery." --Admiral Robert J. Henner
Not sure if that's what they meant or not; I was trying to envision a way in which a revolver would appear brown.
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Quote:
I am against the death penalty, period. I used to be on the fence, and still probably have about four toes on that fence, but for the most part, I'm on the anti-death-penalty side. We can virtually never "know" 100%, those are very rare cases. The death penalty is absolutely no deterrent...in fact it might have caused deaths by perps afraid to leave witnesses. We have no more right to take a life than anyone else does. The courts make mistakes. The police aren't necessarily honest all the time. Essentially, too many ways for it to go wrong.
And last, but by far not least, it costs MUCH more to put someone to death, what with legal fees, etc., than it does to incarcerate them for life. That's a biggie to me, tho' not up there with taking a life and possible mistakes.
I'm ashamed for my country, and the world is disgusted by us. We are still a nation of cowboys and gun slingers in many ways. Although change IS happening, in that, while still in the minority, those of us against it are a growing segment of the population.
Someone (I can guess a few) will ask if I wouldn't want the death penalty if someone I loved was killed, etc., so I will pre-answer. No I would not. There is no "justice" achieved by killing someone; I can't know what made them they way they are; it accomplishes nothing; I would NOT want anyone hollering for blood if I was killed; and the death penalty is revenge, nothing more.
I have my moments where, if not exactly "Pro" death penalty, I at times don't mind it too much. Take the guy in Texas who was executed yesterday for dragging a black man to death behind his pickup truck - dragging a live human being, chained up, behind a truck down a rough asphalt road for more than three miles, until the man's body came apart. Just for being black.
That prick got the needle yesterday, and I didn't hear one goddam word of protest on his behalf. And in a way, I'm kind of okay with that.
"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill
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I do (mind it). What is the death penalty except legally-sanctioned revenge? From what you writes, that's what it is to you.
It's not a deterrent; it doesn't do anything for the person(s) who died; it costs taxpayers far more than life in prison; it GUARANTEES mistakes; it gives the living nothing but revenge; it has been proven to be deleterious to those whose job it is; it offers no opportunity for the criminal to be rehabilitated (not set free, just grow as a human being and potentially contribute something to society or make amends in some way); most of the rest of the world (which has learned better) is disgusted by us continuing it. What are the positives, exactly?
Hell, if you want revenge, a lifetime sentence to surviving the prisons of today is FAR worse than death!
Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
That prick got the needle yesterday, and I didn't hear one goddam word of protest on his behalf. And in a way, I'm kind of okay with that.
Yeah, gotta love selective moral outrage.
2 men sentenced to die...
1, a black man who shoots a cop in cold blood... PROTEST !
The other, a white guy who drags a man to death behind a pickup truck... crickets.
I guess protesting the death penalty is only socially acceptable some of the time, huh?
Crassic.
" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "
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Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
Yeah, gotta love selective moral outrage.
2 men sentenced to die...
1, a black man who shoots a cop in cold blood... PROTEST !
The other, a white guy who drags a man to death behind a pickup truck... crickets.
I guess protesting the death penalty is only socially acceptable some of the time, huh?
Crassic.
I love how you choose to selectively ignore facts. You know like the witnesses that recanted their testimonies.
I do not fear God, I fear the ignorance of man.
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Yes, there's a HUGE difference between the two cases. Nonetheless, I'm forced (kicking and screaming all the way) to agree with Raptor. Hating the death penalty should NOT depend on the crime or the criminal. You either hate it because of what it is, does, stands for and can take the life of the innocent, or you're being hypocritical.
Blech! 
That tasted AWFUL! The things my moral values force me to do...
Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off
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What if you don't hate the death penalty, just how it is used in some cases.
I do not fear God, I fear the ignorance of man.
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