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Well... Jacob Send a noteboard - 22/09/2011 05:18:54 PM
Other than proven innocent comment, is if all this evidence is so shaky, why didn't he win any of the appeals? That's where I'm confused...


From what I understand of the law and the appeals process is that you can only appeal aspects of a case that fell within the original case and ruling. Recanted testimony, after the fact, as far as I can tell, will not change an appeals ruling, as long as the proper legal process, and results, came during the original trial. New evidence, especially in the case of questioned/recanted witness accounts can be tricky. They most frequently lead to a new trial. For a new trial, witness coercion would probably have to be proved in front of a judicial review.

The supreme court does not have executive powers. It hears cases and reviews ruling based on the interpretation of law and the constitution. The man had been found guilty by a jury of peers, and sentenced based on that verdict. Short of a miscarriage of law, an interpretation of the law, or clear and verified circumstances that change the verdict, the Supreme court tends to not get involved, allowing state legal and executive branches to rule in their own jurisdictions.

Personally, I don't know the circumstances of the two witnesses that have not changed their story since. Were they the two strongest witnesses? I haven't head the specific witnesses claims of coercion. But, I do know that this case and outcome is a mess. He was convicted and sentenced on the strength of 9 witnesses and no hard evidence. He was executed on that result.

It does seem odd that the load of questions and possible coercion would at least have resulted in a longer stay, or possibly having the death penalty changed to at least life in prison. Was it justice or was it a mistake? I don't think any of us will really be able to answer that definitively. And, I think that it is THAT, more than anything else, that makes people uncomfortable that he was indeed executed. People would rather be certain when it comes to ending a man's life.
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i'm proud to live in a country where you can be executed based on circumstantial evidence... - 22/09/2011 04:06:07 PM 1491 Views
Yeah it's pretty damn disgusting and frustrating... - 22/09/2011 04:08:05 PM 799 Views
Well - 22/09/2011 06:57:37 PM 837 Views
And yet the Supreme Court didn't stop it. You're a lawyer right? - 22/09/2011 04:19:05 PM 858 Views
Well, that right there was an ignorant thing to say. - 22/09/2011 04:32:49 PM 923 Views
But they get all the media attention - 22/09/2011 04:45:03 PM 800 Views
Er. - 22/09/2011 05:09:44 PM 815 Views
What about the t-shirts? *NM* - 22/09/2011 05:47:49 PM 333 Views
Heh... you should perhaps Google 'The West Memphis 3' - 22/09/2011 05:29:06 PM 881 Views
And this is a typically illogical argument. - 22/09/2011 11:11:48 PM 839 Views
You're kidding, right? - 23/09/2011 02:55:44 PM 788 Views
Re: You're kidding, right? - 23/09/2011 07:36:38 PM 805 Views
Juror bias. *NM* - 23/09/2011 08:35:10 PM 315 Views
the jury was majority black *NM* - 23/09/2011 09:03:48 PM 326 Views
In this instance, yes. *NM* - 23/09/2011 09:30:10 PM 283 Views
Your evidence for that? *NM* - 23/09/2011 11:33:58 PM 321 Views
Twenty-one years of life in the American South. - 24/09/2011 12:40:10 AM 760 Views
Of course I'm interested - 24/09/2011 04:03:51 AM 703 Views
From me being too involved with the subject material. I apologize. - 24/09/2011 11:16:06 AM 677 Views
No worries - 24/09/2011 07:10:40 PM 672 Views
While I largely agree with your argument, I agree more with Cannoli on the NAACP. - 23/09/2011 07:46:06 PM 744 Views
Wow - 23/09/2011 07:50:06 PM 647 Views
It happens. - 25/09/2011 03:09:00 PM 697 Views
yes the "you born white what more do you want" argument *NM* - 23/09/2011 09:03:04 PM 314 Views
From what I've read it is pretty disturbing - 22/09/2011 04:27:44 PM 869 Views
Huh. - 22/09/2011 04:47:20 PM 867 Views
That jumped out at me too. - 22/09/2011 04:50:52 PM 790 Views
What really confuses me - 22/09/2011 04:58:32 PM 742 Views
Well... - 22/09/2011 05:18:54 PM 900 Views
So if I understand you correctly... - 22/09/2011 05:23:00 PM 836 Views
almost - 22/09/2011 08:25:06 PM 739 Views
Re: Well... - 22/09/2011 05:29:03 PM 796 Views
I know one reason is that - 22/09/2011 08:27:41 PM 795 Views
it is only confusing because the evidence isn't really that shaky - 22/09/2011 08:54:21 PM 787 Views
you are innocent until proven guilty - 22/09/2011 05:34:57 PM 815 Views
You must change your perspective..... - 22/09/2011 07:33:20 PM 791 Views
Well said *NM* - 22/09/2011 08:49:56 PM 349 Views
If I understand the Supreme Court correctly, the reason they denied the stay of execution was - 22/09/2011 08:25:14 PM 818 Views
On its face, that is a good reason. - 22/09/2011 10:07:44 PM 841 Views
I completely support the Death Penalty without question..... - 22/09/2011 08:27:54 PM 722 Views
Unreasonable doubt is impossible to eliminate. - 22/09/2011 09:54:43 PM 804 Views
Doubt can be eliminated.....any question about Dalmer? - 23/09/2011 01:00:52 PM 851 Views
Maybe he was framed by an enemy, government conspiracy or aliens. - 23/09/2011 01:54:21 PM 742 Views
Jigga what? *NM* - 23/09/2011 03:36:07 PM 420 Views
Circumstantial evidence is not, I believe, a bar to conviction. - 22/09/2011 09:43:56 PM 696 Views
Regarding the salvation thing, that is an argument FOR the death penalty, in my mind. - 22/09/2011 11:37:16 PM 770 Views
That motive is seflish and thus fatal. - 23/09/2011 01:17:00 AM 701 Views
Bullshit - 25/09/2011 03:53:05 AM 936 Views
Thank God you're not an evangelist. - 23/09/2011 02:59:06 PM 736 Views
And I pity the souls you have ministered to. They're in for a rude shock at their judgement - 25/09/2011 04:01:05 AM 725 Views
lol roman catholicism *NM* - 25/09/2011 04:39:55 AM 295 Views
You really don't understand irony, do you? Particularly as it applies to your post about this case. - 22/09/2011 11:26:49 PM 820 Views
. - 23/09/2011 08:21:38 AM 764 Views
I kind of agree. - 24/09/2011 12:05:27 AM 798 Views

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