Scott Peterson’s Death Sentenced Overturned

The death penalty, think about it...is not a "deterrent", does anyone really believe that a would-be killer is going to stop and think: "OMG, I sooo want to kill but there's a death penalty, I better not!" Nope, doesn't work that way.
A life sentance is not a picnic, If you think waiting 20 minutes in the exam room is excruciating, think about spending the rest of your life in that room.

Just saw Sunny's post:
Sunny said:
Plus, after the discovery of DNA evidence, it turned out that there are hundreds of innocent people on death row. Many of them have been let go. I think this was particularly bad in Texas. Enough reason to abolish this barbaric practice once and for all.
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True story. A lot of people have been put to death mistakenly, but with the Innocence Project DNA evidence has exonerated many that were wrongly convicted, many by faulty eye witness testimony.
 

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hellomimi said:
When I saw the news on Yahoo, first thing that I thought of was,

Scott is someone's son, brother, cousin or friend. I grieve for them, especially his mom, knowing she's helpless in all these and its like a wound that's being picked again. I cannot make choices for my kids and even good people make bad choices. We live with choices we make, good or bad.
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Scott Peterson was/is not a good person, and what he did went FAR beyond a bad choice.

Most of us could make a list of bad choices we've made in life. I certainly can. But I doubt the lists would include anything as horrific as the murder of Laci and Connor Peterson.
 
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I agree, Applecruncher. What he did was beyond what most people would just call a "bad choice," and he certainly should be incarcerated for the rest of his life for it.
 

Sunny said:
I have read the same thing, Diva. The death penalty usually involves years of legal appeals, litigation, etc. Very expensive for the state, and the figures show that it usually costs more to execute a prisoner than to just allow him to rot in his cell.

For those who are bent on vengeance, punishment, and all that sort of thing, I would personally rather be executed than spend the rest of my life in a maximum security prison. Just think what that would be like.

Plus, after the discovery of DNA evidence, it turned out that there are hundreds of innocent people on death row. Many of them have been let go. I think this was particularly bad in Texas. Enough reason to abolish this barbaric practice once and for all.
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Sunny I agree with you as far as serious conviction errors being enough to abolish the death penalty.
 
“I have read the same thing, Diva. The death penalty usually involves years of legal appeals, litigation, etc. Very expensive for the state, and the figures show that it usually costs more to execute a prisoner than to just allow him to rot in his cell.”

Unless you use Tim McVeigh’s fast track method. You can be tried, convicted and executed in only 6 years.
 
911 said:
“I have read the same thing, Diva. The death penalty usually involves years of legal appeals, litigation, etc. Very expensive for the state, and the figures show that it usually costs more to execute a prisoner than to just allow him to rot in his cell.”

Unless you use Tim McVeigh’s fast track method. You can be tried, convicted and executed in only 6 years.
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Exactly !! Why was it so 'easy' in his case ? ........... IMO, because the entire nation wanted his head.

In 'regular' felony cases , the longer they can keep it in appeal, the more money the attorneys make.
And again [opinion] but the masses just don't pay that much attention to those cases.
 
911 said:
“I have read the same thing, Diva. The death penalty usually involves years of legal appeals, litigation, etc. Very expensive for the state, and the figures show that it usually costs more to execute a prisoner than to just allow him to rot in his cell.”

Unless you use Tim McVeigh’s fast track method. You can be tried, convicted and executed in only 6 years.
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Or Gary Gilmore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gilmore_(criminal)#Trial
 
rgp said:
Exactly !! Why was it so 'easy' in his case ? ........... IMO, because the entire nation wanted his head.

In 'regular' felony cases , the longer they can keep it in appeal, the more money the attorneys make.
And again [opinion] but the masses just don't pay that much attention to those cases.
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It wasn't because the entire nation wanted his head," it was because he stopped further appeals.

Appeals attorneys in "regular" felony cases are almost always always court appointed and make no more money whether the appeal takes 10 years or six months. It's a flat rate. In federal appeals, court appointed attorneys bill at an hourly rate, but it is at a MUCH reduced rate, and if I recall correctly, there is a maximum total allowable, and many expenses are not recoverable.

Nobody gets rich doing court appointed appeals, which the vast majority of felony appeals are, because most people who are convicted don't have money to pay attorneys.
 
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Butterfly said:
It wasn't because the entire nation wanted his head," it was because he stopped further appeals.

Appeals attorneys in "regular" felony cases are almost always always court appointed and make no more money whether the appeal takes 10 years or six months. It's a flat rate. In federal appeals, court appointed attorneys bill at an hourly rate, but it is at a MUCH reduced rate, and if I recall correctly, there is a maximum total allowable, and many expenses are not recoverable.

Nobody gets rich doing court appointed appeals, which the vast majority of felony appeals are, because most people who are convicted don't have money to pay attorneys.
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Yeah, he asked to be fast tracked upon sentencing, but even then, he had to go through the automatic appeal process because it was a death sentence.
 
Nathan said:
The death penalty, think about it...is not a "deterrent", does anyone really believe that a would-be killer is going to stop and think: "OMG, I sooo want to kill but there's a death penalty, I better not!" Nope, doesn't work that way.
A life sentence is not a picnic, If you think waiting 20 minutes in the exam room is excruciating, think about spending the rest of your life in that room.

Just saw Sunny's post:

True story. A lot of people have been put to death mistakenly, but with the Innocence Project DNA evidence has exonerated many that were wrongly convicted, many by faulty eye witness testimony.
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Nathan, you must have been in the corrections officer business or something like it. When I was a young Trooper, I used to think that maybe taking these young punks off the street that committed non violent crimes and stick them in jail for a few days and give them a taste of prison life may alter their life. Like the saying goes, "Some people have to get hit by a car to know that it hurts."

When I would return a prisoner to their cell and had to walk among the cells with guys sitting in them passing the time, it really made me think of what a waste of life. Serial killers have no life or at least they aren't supposed to. However, BTK used to brag about how good he has it. We all know what happened to Dahmer and Bundy, but others are still sitting and waiting, except for the killers that hang or hung themselves.

Believe it or not, I have felt sorry for one prisoner that hung himself, Aaron Hernandez. It really boggles the mind how this outstanding football player, who had just signed a huge multi-million dollar contract would be able to kill another person, which was his brother-in-law to be. From everything that I had read, losing his father caused the wheels to come off of his wagon. Even still, why didn't he seek professional help and maybe ask the team to hire him a life coach? He had the opportunities and definitely the abilities to become a hall of fame player. Sometimes, I just don't understand and sometimes there is just no answer.
 
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Ruthanne said:
@911 What does "fast tracked" mean?
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Fast track means that a prisoner has voluntarily given up his rights to all of his appeals and wants the sentence to be carried out ASAP. I think most, if not all states has an automatic appeal on death sentences that not even the prisoner can forego. A prisoner sentenced to death may sit in prison for years upon years before the sentence is carried out or it may never be. Some prisoners have even died waiting for the sentence to be imposed.
 
911 said:
Fast track means that a prisoner has voluntarily given up his rights to all of his appeals and wants the sentence to be carried out ASAP. I think most, if not all states has an automatic appeal on death sentences that not even the prisoner can forego. A prisoner sentenced to death may sit in prison for years upon years before the sentence is carried out or it may never be. Some prisoners have even died waiting for the sentence to be imposed.
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Thanks, good to know!
 
911 said:
Nathan, you must have been in the corrections officer business or something like it. When I was a young Trooper, I used to think that maybe taking these young punks off the street that committed non violent crimes and stick them in jail for a few days and give them a taste of prison life may alter their life.
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I worked for a Sheriff's Dept. for 26 years before I hired on with CDCR. Yeah, some individuals might "learn their lesson" and become law abiding, a very small percentage. A large percentage of prison inmates are serving time for offenses that are due to their drug usage. It's too bad, but once released they go back to their families and friends(where else you gonna go?) and end up back where they started- using drugs and committing property crimes. Prison can be a deterrent for sure, but as for the Death penalty- well, there is no way to collect statistics to determine how many where, and how many weren't discouraged from committing murder due to having the death penalty on the books.
**somewhat off topic** We have a nest of meth heads living just down the road, pretty obvious. 4 residential burglaries in the neighborhood over the past 9 months. We are watching....
 
Nathan said:
I worked for a Sheriff's Dept. for 26 years before I hired on with CDCR. Yeah, some individuals might "learn their lesson" and become law abiding, a very small percentage. A large percentage of prison inmates are serving time for offenses that are due to their drug usage. It's too bad, but once released they go back to their families and friends(where else you gonna go?) and end up back where they started- using drugs and committing property crimes. Prison can be a deterrent for sure, but as for the Death penalty- well, there is no way to collect statistics to determine how many where, and how many weren't discouraged from committing murder due to having the death penalty on the books.
**somewhat off topic** We have a nest of meth heads living just down the road, pretty obvious. 4 residential burglaries in the neighborhood over the past 9 months. We are watching....
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The rate of recidivism has been about 50% around here. Not a good record. I always thought of the death penalty as not being a deterrent, but rather a punishment. The discovery of DNA has really lessened mistakes and wrongful convictions. Myself, I have mixed feelings about the death penalty. Serial killers are completely worthless and are never going to get out of jail. Mass murderers, the same. People who kill while in a state of passion, I can kind of understand, but not condone it. Gang killings are killing each other and no one gains anything. IOW, they are senseless. Drive by shootings that kill innocent people piss me off, especially if little kids are killed.
 
911 said:
The rate of recidivism has been about 50% around here. Not a good record. I always thought of the death penalty as not being a deterrent, but rather a punishment. The discovery of DNA has really lessened mistakes and wrongful convictions. Myself, I have mixed feelings about the death penalty. Serial killers are completely worthless and are never going to get out of jail. Mass murderers, the same. People who kill while in a state of passion, I can kind of understand, but not condone it. Gang killings are killing each other and no one gains anything. IOW, they are senseless. Drive by shootings that kill innocent people piss me off, especially if little kids are killed.
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My view as well, on all counts. Many people refer to the brutality of the death penalty, I have no doubt that a human being can be painlessly put to death, over 60,000 opioid fatalities a year attest to this.
A philosophical comment: The death penalty only serves two purposes- it insures that the offender will never offend, and also serves as retribution for those for which such matters. However, on the matter of closure for the victim's family- perhaps for some capital punishment might satisfy that, for the majority I think not.

There are some that have done such heinous acts, that putting them to death just seems right, for the common good. Timothy McVeigh comes to mind.
 
Butterfly said:
Only the initial appeal, though. He elected not to take it on to the Supremes after the 10th Circuit upheld the conviction and sentence.
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Correct. I posted this in #63. Here in PA all death sentences must be reviewed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. After that, the convicted felon must seek appeals.
 
Nathan said:
My view as well, on all counts. Many people refer to the brutality of the death penalty, I have no doubt that a human being can be painlessly put to death, over 60,000 opioid fatalities a year attest to this.
A philosophical comment: The death penalty only serves two purposes- it insures that the offender will never offend, and also serves as retribution for those for which such matters. However, on the matter of closure for the victim's family- perhaps for some capital punishment might satisfy that, for the majority I think not.

There are some that have done such heinous acts, that putting them to death just seems right, for the common good. Timothy McVeigh comes to mind.
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McVeigh killed a lot of little children. He called them collateral damage.
 

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