By Nicholas Stix
The upshot of this case is:
1. The “future dangerousness” rule is a ruse, designed to let black and Hispanic killers evade punishment. A murderer’s “future dangerousness” is irrelevant. Punishment isn’t about the future, but the past. If you murder someone, and are not yourself put to death, you have escaped punishment;
2. Criminal justice officials are telling “expert” witnesses such as Mr. Quijano that they must choose between perjuring themselves, and seeing that justice is done. Everything we know about crime and race tells us that black men who commit violent crimes are more likely to repeat their crimes;
3. The same lefties now defending Mr. Buck as a “black” man, deny that race exists (“race is a social construction”). They obviously don’t believe the latter nonsense;
4. The lefties defending Mr. Buck will exploit any subterfuge, in order to prevent a black murderer from being punished for his crimes, just as they will exploit any subterfuge, in order to railroad an innocent white man (the Duke Rape Hoax, etc.); and
5. Republicans are often ultimately just as much trouble as Democrats, where race and criminal justice are concerned, as the example of John Cornyn illustrates.
Previously, at WEJB/NSU:
“Censorship at the Houston Chronicle: ‘High court blocks [Censored] Houstonian’s execution’”
[Thanks to reader-researcher RC.]
High court blocks Houston killer's execution
Justices may review racial angle
By Allan Turner
Houston Chronicle
Updated 11:52 p.m., Thursday, September 15, 2011
HUNTSVILLE — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday issued a stay of execution for Houston killer Duane Buck in a case that drew arguments that his punishment might have been tainted by racial testimony.
The high court stayed his execution pending a decision on whether to review his case.
The decision came about 7:30 p.m. approximately 90 minutes after Buck was to have been executed. He was waiting in a holding cell next to the state's death chamber.
Minutes after being given the news, Buck began to pray.
"Praise the Lord," he said. "God is worthy of praise. God's mercy trumps judgment. I feel good."
[N.S.: That’s the Devil he’s praying to. God had nothing to do with it.]
In a Thursday morning filing to the high court, Texas Defender Service lawyers argued Buck's death sentence violated equal protection, due process and 8th Amendment guarantees under the Constitution.
Buck was sentenced to die for the July 1995 shooting deaths of his former girlfriend, Debra Gardner, and her friend, Kenneth Butler. Buck also shot his sister, Phyllis Taylor, in the chest at point-blank range, but the woman recovered and later became an advocate for saving his life.
The legal fight for Buck's life centered on a 2000 assertion by then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn that Buck's case was among six capital trials that might have been tainted by racial testimony from psychologist Walter Quijano.
The other five killers all received new federal court-ordered punishment hearings in which they again were sentenced to death. But Buck, whose case still was at the state level at the time of Cornyn's pronouncement, never had his sentencing reconsidered.
Forgiven by family
In their petition, Buck's lawyers said that - despite Cornyn's admission of problems with the original trial - state attorneys vigorously prosecuted Buck in federal court and misrepresented facts.
In past weeks, Taylor and other members of Buck's family pleaded for his life, saying Christian beliefs had led them to forgive him for his violence.
Linda Geffen, a former Harris County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Buck in his 1997 trial, joined in urging the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to commute the killer's death sentence to life in prison. That panel unanimously rejected the request earlier this week.
Buck's attorneys ran through the standard sequence of appeals to state and federal courts, chalking up defeat at every turn. On Thursday morning, they took a letter from Geffen and black politicial and religious leaders to 208th District Judge Denise Collins asking her to do anything she could to stop the execution.
Collins, who had presided over Buck's murder trial, turned them down, sternly asking why they had waited until execution day to make their request.
Quijano's problematic testimony came after he had outlined various factors, including race, that could contribute to "future dangerousness" of inmates in prison. An expert witness of the defense, Quijano ultimately opined that Buck would not pose such a risk if incarcerated.
The issue of future dangerousness is a key factor jurors must consider before issuing a death sentence.
On cross-examination, prosecutors asked the psychologist if he thought being black could, for "complicated reasons," be a risk factor for future violence. He answered yes. [So, a defense witness answers truthfully on the stand, and you therefore get to stop his execution?]
In his 2000 comment on the Buck case - and five others in which Quijano had made similar statements - Cornyn insisted that race should play no role in criminal justice proceedings.
No comments:
Post a Comment