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airehead
Oompa Loofah
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 Posted: 12/13/04 - 17:59 Post subject:
I am shocked!!
But did they say that he has to appeal the death penalty before he can appeal the guilty verdict? If so, that jury wants him put away for a long time.
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kattzoo
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Posted: 12/13/04 - 19:37 Post subject:
I was rather shocked about the sentence myself. I didn't think the jury would come back with death, especially since it took them awhile.
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Cappy
Excelent
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Posted: 12/13/04 - 20:13 Post subject:
| HighHeat wrote: |
I didn't expect this. |
Neither did I.
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gretriever
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Posted: 12/13/04 - 20:39 Post subject:
Actually, the verdict didn't surprise me. If they found him guilty with no direct evidence linking him, it wasn't much of a stretch that they would opt for execution.
Last edited by gretriever on 12/13/04 - 21:54; edited 1 time in total
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omega lambda
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Posted: 12/13/04 - 20:43 Post subject:
| gretriever wrote: | | Actually, the verdict didn't surprise me. If they found him with no direct evidence linking him, it wasn't much of a stretch that they would opt for execution. |
Are you saying you're surprised the jury reached a guilty verdict on circumstantial evidence? Is that unusual? As for the death penalty, I suspect this was an incredibly, emotionally charged case, and I suspect the death penalty sentence is fall-out from that.
Why was this case headline news across the US? What made it so different from other murder cases?
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kattzoo
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Posted: 12/13/04 - 20:59 Post subject:
| omega lambda wrote: |
Are you saying you're surprised the jury reached a guilty verdict on circumstantial evidence? Is that unusual? As for the death penalty, I suspect this was an incredibly, emotionally charged case, and I suspect the death penalty sentence is fall-out from that.
Why was this case headline news across the US? What made it so different from other murder cases? |
I think it was the whole package. Both were good looking and seemed to have it all. Toss in the mistress and you have a great soap opera. Still, far too many women are killed by their spouses and it gets no attention. Frighteningly enough, we're more likely to be harmed/murdered by someone who claims to love us than a stranger.
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gretriever
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Posted: 12/13/04 - 21:13 Post subject:
| omega lambda wrote: |
Are you saying you're surprised the jury reached a guilty verdict on circumstantial evidence? Is that unusual? As for the death penalty, I suspect this was an incredibly, emotionally charged case, and I suspect the death penalty sentence is fall-out from that.
Why was this case headline news across the US? What made it so different from other murder cases? |
Nope. I'm saying that because they did, the penalty decision they arrived at is no surprise. The jury is a 'magical' thing in that you can never know what they will decide in advance. O.J. Simpson had more direct evidence in his case, and he was acquitted (in the criminal trial anyway). You can never know with a jury.
I think the initial issue with the Congressman being suspect in her disappearance got the ball rolling. Why it continued after the focus shifted to Scott Peterson, I don't know - other than the momentum of the media, perhaps.
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omega lambda
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Posted: 12/13/04 - 21:26 Post subject:
| gretriever wrote: | Nope. I'm saying that because they did, the penalty decision they arrived at is no surprise. The jury is a 'magical' thing in that you can never know what they will decide in advance. O.J. Simpson had more direct evidence in his case, and he was acquitted (in the criminal trial anyway). You can never know with a jury.
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You've got that right. We just watched a documentary on the 'West Memphis Three' - three young men (ages 17 -18, I think) convicted of murdering 3 boys. From what I've been able to glean from the documentary and internet, the only evidence against the three men was a possibly coerced confession by one of the three who's IQ is 72. There was no direct evidence at all. In discussing the documentary, we compared the OJ trial to this one; in the OJ trial, there was a lot of direct evidence, but the jury didn't want to find him guilty so they didn't. In the West Memphis 3 trials, it seemed as though the juries wanted someone to be responsible for murdering 3 little boys, and the three men arrested were just as good as anyone, lack of evidence (direct or circumstantial) be damned. In the West Memphis 3 case, the media frenzy is also being blamed for the convictions.
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airehead
Oompa Loofah
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Posted: 12/14/04 - 01:01 Post subject:
| omega lambda wrote: |
You've got that right. We just watched a documentary on the 'West Memphis Three' - three young men (ages 17 -18, I think) convicted of murdering 3 boys. From what I've been able to glean from the documentary and internet, the only evidence against the three men was a possibly coerced confession by one of the three who's IQ is 72. There was no direct evidence at all. In discussing the documentary, we compared the OJ trial to this one; in the OJ trial, there was a lot of direct evidence, but the jury didn't want to find him guilty so they didn't. In the West Memphis 3 trials, it seemed as though the juries wanted someone to be responsible for murdering 3 little boys, and the three men arrested were just as good as anyone, lack of evidence (direct or circumstantial) be damned. In the West Memphis 3 case, the media frenzy is also being blamed for the convictions. |
Reminds me of "The Green Mile" by Stephen King. They found someone guilty because they wanted him to be the one.
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