Florida executioned might have been innocent

[horuhe00]

Here's part of the official AP press release:

"Diaz, 55, was put to death Wednesday for murdering of the manager of a Miami topless bar during a holdup in 1979."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/12/15/diaz.execution.ap/index.html

What hasn't been discussed in American news that I have seen, is that there were various problems with that conviction.

Here's a few:

• The prosecution witness said that Diaz, in jail (for other reasons) told him that he had done the killing.
• Diaz didn't speak English, only Spanish.
• The prosecution witness didn't speak Spanish, only English.
• The witness has since been saying that he made it all up. He had angry with Diaz and made up that story to see if they would lower his sentence. After the conviction of Diaz though, they didn't lower his sentence.
• In 1979, racism had more leverage than it has now (which it still does, imagine back then)

So, has the death penalty murdered innocent people?

 

[Joe12345]

Alot of innocent people have been put to death. Look how many are released from death row or general population after serving 20, 30 years for crimes they didn't commit. Before DNA testing they just had to suffer the consequences of a flawed system. Still many cases that havent been tested that will be if the innocent person is lucky, or if they are not because no one is acting on their behalf they will continue in their dire situation. When you go to trial by jusry you have to realise your fate is in the hands of twelve people who were too dumb to get out of jury duty. That alone is scary.

 

[blueapplepaste]

No no no! This could never happen; our system is perfect. There's no reason to ever question any conviction and execution!

[/sarcasm]

This is why the death penalty should be abolished. Even one innoncent death is one too many.

 

[WesternCanuck]

Well I am one who is deeply thankful that some countries still put to death the worse scum in their midst....However, it is always a tragedy when innocent people are executed....but the logic behind those that oppose the Death Penalty is hilarious....so we should end executions because of mistakes???

Yeah that makes sense...and lets end prosecuting all criminals because sometimes innocent people are also thrown into jail for other crimes they didn't commit either??

The fact is, now with DNA, their shouldn't any longer be any mistakes vis a vis the death penalty.....and I agree that we need to be 100 percent sure that the person is guilty of murder before we end their lives and now that is possible with DNA....

It is always astounding to me that people like Charles Manson should remain alive mocking his victims when in reality he should have been lined up before a firing squad decades ago......

 

[TeddyKGB]

Well I am one who is deeply thankful that some countries still put to death the worse scum in their midst....However, it is always a tragedy when innocent people are executed....but the logic behind those that oppose the Death Penalty is hilarious....so we should end executions because of mistakes???

Yeah that makes sense...and lets end prosecuting all criminals because sometimes innocent people are also thrown into jail for other crimes they didn't commit either??

Death is a bit more... permanent than other sentences.

The fact is, now with DNA, their shouldn't any longer be any mistakes vis a vis the death penalty.....and I agree that we need to be 100 percent sure that the person is guilty of murder before we end their lives and now that is possible with DNA....

DNA is hardly the jurisprudential panacea that death-penalty supporters portray. It can match tissue with a vanishingly small error rate, but it cannot alone establish elements of the crime.

It is always astounding to me that people like Charles Manson should remain alive mocking his victims when in reality he should have been lined up before a firing squad decades ago......

To what end? To deter all the other pensive, conflicted serial killers and mass murderers?

 

[WesternCanuck]

Long Sigh............why am I not surprised KGB is against the Death Penalty??? Oy.......then again, with a handle like KGB........

Seriously, Thank God for America and the American Majority that still retains some common sense....the Death Penalty is a great thing...

Here even in sickly liberal infused Canada, after decades of Liberal hegomony in our Schools and Media and Higher Academia, still even in spite of all the left wing propaganda, a majority of Canadians still favor the Death Penalty....it is only our gutless politicians who refuse to do the will of the people that block our way to eliminating some of our most depraved murderers!!

 

[Joe12345]

Well I am one who is deeply thankful that some countries still put to death the worse scum in their midst....However, it is always a tragedy when innocent people are executed....but the logic behind those that oppose the Death Penalty is hilarious....so we should end executions because of mistakes???

Yeah that makes sense...and lets end prosecuting all criminals because sometimes innocent people are also thrown into jail for other crimes they didn't commit either??

The fact is, now with DNA, their shouldn't any longer be any mistakes vis a vis the death penalty.....and I agree that we need to be 100 percent sure that the person is guilty of murder before we end their lives and now that is possible with DNA....

It is always astounding to me that people like Charles Manson should remain alive mocking his victims when in reality he should have been lined up before a firing squad decades ago......

Like Jesus? Im sure the pharisees were equally delighted then, when he was put to death.

 

[stray bullet]

Here's part of the official AP press release:

"Diaz, 55, was put to death Wednesday for murdering of the manager of a Miami topless bar during a holdup in 1979."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/12/15/diaz.execution.ap/index.html

What hasn't been discussed in American news that I have seen, is that there were various problems with that conviction.

Here's a few:

• The prosecution witness said that Diaz, in jail (for other reasons) told him that he had done the killing.
• Diaz didn't speak English, only Spanish.
• The prosecution witness didn't speak Spanish, only English.
• The witness has since been saying that he made it all up. He had angry with Diaz and made up that story to see if they would lower his sentence. After the conviction of Diaz though, they didn't lower his sentence.
• In 1979, racism had more leverage than it has now (which it still does, imagine back then)

So, has the death penalty murdered innocent people?

What's a news source that said the only witness made it all up?

 

[stray bullet]

No no no! This could never happen; our system is perfect. There's no reason to ever question any conviction and execution!

[/sarcasm]

This is why the death penalty should be abolished. Even one innoncent death is one too many.

Is it okay for someone innocent of a crime to die in prison?

If the death penalty is a deterant, than how many innocent lives are we willing to sacrifice just to make sure an innocent person isn't killed?

I don't see how one can argue against the death penalty on the basis of an innocent person dying- when innocent people spend all their lives in prisons too. A false conviction is awful, but that happens to matter what.

 

[TeddyKGB]

Long Sigh............why am I not surprised KGB is against the Death Penalty??? Oy.......then again, with a handle like KGB........

Seriously, Thank God for America and the American Majority that still retains some common sense....the Death Penalty is a great thing...

Wow. I felt good about that post, but I had no idea it would reduce you to party-line polemic.

 

[TeddyKGB]

Is it okay for someone innocent of a crime to die in prison?

If the death penalty is a deterant, than how many innocent lives are we willing to sacrifice just to make sure an innocent person isn't killed?

Is the death penalty a deterrent? Are the types of people executed likely to be swayed by other executions?

I don't see how one can argue against the death penalty on the basis of an innocent person dying- when innocent people spend all their lives in prisons too. A false conviction is awful, but that happens to matter what.

A long prison sentence at least provides, in principle, the wrongfully-convicted with his entire natural life to prove his case.

 

[stray bullet]

Is the death penalty a deterrent? Are the types of people executed likely to be swayed by other executions?
A long prison sentence at least provides, in principle, the wrongfully-convicted with his entire natural life to prove his case.

The deterrent issue is a long debate that is, in my opinion, a complete waste of time. I'm merely presenting that side of the issue.

If a person dies in jail, then his life was still robbed from him by the state on a false conviction.

// If you want my personal opinion, the death penalty should be used way less than it is now, but preserved for cases were it would be a deterrent, such as escaped immates serving life setences, also to serve a bargaining tool between the prosecution and defense. We don't need escaped inmates feelings like they have nothing to lose- if they take a life while on the run- kill them. If we can get a mass murderer to release information that would save a life in exchange for his own- good.

 

[blueapplepaste]

Is it okay for someone innocent of a crime to die in prison?

If the death penalty is a deterant, than how many innocent lives are we willing to sacrifice just to make sure an innocent person isn't killed?

I don't see how one can argue against the death penalty on the basis of an innocent person dying- when innocent people spend all their lives in prisons too. A false conviction is awful, but that happens to matter what.

The difference is that when an innoncent person is executed there is no restitution at all. Whereas if an innoncent person is put in jail and it is later revealed that they're innoncent they can still be set free. Can they ever have those years in prison back? Nope, but at least they have the rest of their lives.

Now if an innoncent person dies in jail, that, too, is a tragedy. Which is why much of the judicial system needs an overhaul.

 

[lawtonfogle]

Here's part of the official AP press release:

"Diaz, 55, was put to death Wednesday for murdering of the manager of a Miami topless bar during a holdup in 1979."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/12/15/diaz.execution.ap/index.html

What hasn't been discussed in American news that I have seen, is that there were various problems with that conviction.

Here's a few:

• The prosecution witness said that Diaz, in jail (for other reasons) told him that he had done the killing.
• Diaz didn't speak English, only Spanish.
• The prosecution witness didn't speak Spanish, only English.
• The witness has since been saying that he made it all up. He had angry with Diaz and made up that story to see if they would lower his sentence. After the conviction of Diaz though, they didn't lower his sentence.
• In 1979, racism had more leverage than it has now (which it still does, imagine back then)

So, has the death penalty murdered innocent people?

I still don't see why the out cry. Let there be an outcry that an innocent man was put to death, but not that the penalty was painful.

 

[BlackAndy]

The death penalty doesn't work.

 

[horuhe00]

I still don't see why the out cry. Let there be an outcry that an innocent man was put to death, but not that the penalty was painful.

My last bullet is a good theory.

I haven't found any link in English to this yet.

 

[CCGirl]

Long Sigh............why am I not surprised KGB is against the Death Penalty??? Oy.......then again, with a handle like KGB........

Seriously, Thank God for America and the American Majority that still retains some common sense....the Death Penalty is a great thing...

Here even in sickly liberal infused Canada, after decades of Liberal hegomony in our Schools and Media and Higher Academia, still even in spite of all the left wing propaganda, a majority of Canadians still favor the Death Penalty....it is only our gutless politicians who refuse to do the will of the people that block our way to eliminating some of our most depraved murderers!!

False. The majority of Canadians do not support the death penalty.

 

[CCGirl]

The death penalty is proven to not be a deterrent, in Canada, at least.

 

[stray bullet]

The death penalty is proven to not be a deterrent, in Canada, at least.

Howso? How does Canada prevent criminals with life setences from killing when they escape? By threatening to make them watch Howie Mandel stand-up?

 

[nightflight]

I can't believe some here are minimizing the horror of possibly innocent people being put to death. Folks, the death penalty is final, you can't compare it to imprisonment.

People can and are wrongly convicted; not all prosecutors and cops are straight arrows. Look at the Duke rape case- six guys railroaded by an politically ambitious DA; thanfully he failed to convict innocent men of a crime. But do you think this DA is the only one out there who would push for a conviction to further his/her career?

There are some people who I don't mind seeing smoked; however the risk that an innocent person will be killed is too much risk.