Mark Warner did the Right thing

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1128768421539
from JoeUser Forums

Mark Warner, Governor of Virginia, has not done a lot of right things in his 4 years (not a lot of wrong things either, but enough).  Today, he did the RIGHT thing.  Perhaps for the wrong reason, but he did the right thing.

Mark Warner decided that Va would not be the state that executes the 1000 person since the restoration of the death penalty.  More Importantly, the evidence used to convict him was destroyed (accidently by a court clerk) and the sole Eyewitness has stated while he "thinks" Robin was the bad guy, he is not "sure" Lovitt was the guy.

 
Lovitt may be as guilty as sin, and truthfully, a jury of his peers found him so guilty.  But that nagging doubt means that he is not a good candidate for the 1k mark.
 
Pro and Con death penalty.  I think in this case most of us can agree that Justice is being served.
 
As for Mark Warner's reason?  He did it because he is running for president!  Silly!
2,005 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top

I was going to write an article about this but saw that you had already done it....

He DID do the right thing.  "Think"ing someone is the bad guy does NOT fulfill the 'beyond reasonable doubt' requirement for a criminal trial.

So, someone else will have to have the dubious honor of being the 1000th convict executed by the US of A.

Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top

"Think"ing someone is the bad guy does NOT fulfill the 'beyond reasonable doubt' requirement for a criminal trial.

The Talk show host here is going ape sh*t.  "He was found guilty!" yada yada yada.

But that doubt will always be there.  best that he live in case the doubt can be proven, or negated.

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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
"He was found guilty!" yada yada yada.


So? The requirements for 'beyond reasonable doubt' were not met. It's that simple. We can't go around executing people who we 'think' comitted the crime. we HAVE to be sure, which is why there are laws regarding rights of the accused.

Just because someone was found guilty on the testimony of a less-than-credible witness does NOT mean they did the crime.
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
This falls in the category of - "He probably deserves it, but ... "

Since the evidence was destroyed (intentional or not) and an eyewitness is the only remaining proof against the man, there's not enough proof that he deserves death.

I don't often agree with Mark Warner (because I think he's a flaming idiot, but that's another story). In this case, I think he did the right thing, but for the exactly wrong things.

Hey! Governor Warner!!!! Sometimes your constituents WANT to be lied to!!! You're allowed to occasionally make us thing you do things for altruistic reasons rather than political reasons!!!

Sheesh.
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top

So? The requirements for 'beyond reasonable doubt' were not met. It's that simple. We can't go around executing people who we 'think' comitted the crime. we HAVE to be sure, which is why there are laws regarding rights of the accused.

Well, according to the law, he was.  According to common sense, you are right.

Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top

I don't often agree with Mark Warner (because I think he's a flaming idiot, but that's another story). In this case, I think he did the right thing, but for the exactly wrong things.

Hey! Governor Warner!!!! Sometimes your constituents WANT to be lied to!!! You're allowed to occasionally make us thing you do things for altruistic reasons rather than political reasons!!!

Sheesh.

Vent!  You are doing real good!  I wont go flaming, but Idiot?  pretty close!

Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
"eye witness accounts are one of the least,yet MOST believed evidence.
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
A bad call in my opinion. Give juries and judges another out like this and you'll actually see more death penalty verdicts. In the end it will be the governor who decides, so the onus shifts to the executive branch and the judiciary can be pontius pilate, washing their hands and handing out nasty sentences with the knowledge the lord high governor will play solomon if they are wrong.

Pardons and commuted sentences are a tradition honored more in the breach than the keeping. When the system is running well, you shouldn't have any. States that can't stomach executing the punishments their courts hand down need to stop being hypocrites and just do away with the death penalty altogether.

Otherwise people who are found guilty, and who haven't been cleared, need to get the punishment they are given. All this does is tread on the already worn confidence in the system, and give criminals more reason to believe they can play it.
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
I'm not as fearful of the future based on what happened here as Baker (I don't think)... The future has already been clouded by past mistakes like the ones made in this case, and in crime labs throughout the country.

Personally, the missing (lost) evidence does raise the shadow of a doubt for me, and because of that, I'd prefer to err on the side of caution also. Better that the guy rot in jail while trying to prove his innocence, than put him to death when someone else might have done the crime.

There are clear cut times for using the death penalty, and though the crime this guy may have perpetrated might rise to use of the penalty, the lack of evidence that can absolutely and completely convict him lets him keep breathing in my opinion.
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top

"eye witness accounts are one of the least,yet MOST believed evidence.

True.  And the DNA was not conclusive, at least then.  If the Clerk had not destroyed the evidence, this might have played out differently.  I am just glad it played out as it did.

Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top

States that can't stomach executing the punishments their courts hand down need to stop being hypocrites and just do away with the death penalty altogether.

There were extenuating circumstances.  And Virginia is 3rd behind Texas and Florida in Executions, so I dont think there is no stomach for it.  And finally, Warner did allow 11 executions to go through in his tenure, so it is not like he has a history of it (this is his first commute).

Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top

There are clear cut times for using the death penalty, and though the crime this guy may have perpetrated might rise to use of the penalty, the lack of evidence that can absolutely and completely convict him lets him keep breathing in my opinion.

And it is not like he is walking.  The sentence was commuted to life without parole.  So unless someone comes forward and cops a plea, he will likely spend the rest of his days behind bars.