View Full Version : Warner Halts Execution
LoungeMachine
11-29-2005, 05:32 PM
UPDATE 1-Virginia governor stops milestone U.S. execution
Tue Nov 29, 2005 5:03 PM ET
By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Virginia Gov. Mark Warner halted the execution of a convicted murderer who would have been the 1,000th person put to death in the United States since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
"The governor commuted the death sentence to life in prison without parole," spokesman Kevin Hall said.
At issue was uncertainty that Robin Lovitt was guilty because DNA evidence in his trial had been illegally destroyed.
Lovitt was scheduled to die by lethal injection in a state prison on Wednesday evening. Warner is a Democrat considering a run for the presidency, and faced an issue that has figured prominently in many past campaigns.
Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976 and executions resumed in 1977, 999 people have been executed in the United States. North Carolina and South Carolina have scheduled executions later in the week.
Lovitt's case has attracted worldwide attention. Hall said earlier the governor had received roughly 1,500 phone calls, letters and e-mails from across the United States and several foreign countries, almost all urging clemency.
Prominent conservatives have said the case could undermine public support for the death penalty. Former special prosecutor Kenneth Starr, who investigated then-President Bill Clinton's extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky, argued Lovitt's case at an appeals-court hearing in February.
Lovitt was sentenced to death in 1999 for killing a night manager in a pool hall the previous year. He claims another man committed the murder and his lawyers argued he could have proved his innocence if DNA evidence used at his trial had not been illegally destroyed.
Warner has denied each of the 11 previous clemency petitions that have come before him as governor.
Since Lovitt will not be executed, Kenneth Boyd, scheduled to die Friday in North Carolina and Shawn Humphries on the same day in South Carolina, could be the 1,000th and 1,001st executions since the end of what amounted to a decade-long moratorium on executions by the states as the Supreme Court wrestled with the issue.
BigBadBrian
11-29-2005, 06:01 PM
Originally posted by LoungeMachine
UPDATE 1-Virginia governor stops milestone U.S. execution
Tue Nov 29, 2005 5:03 PM ET
By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Virginia Gov. Mark Warner halted the execution of a convicted murderer who would have been the 1,000th person put to death in the United States since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
Fuckin' Pussy.
On another note, here's hoping Arnie won't cave to pressure and GIVES Tookie Williams the needle.
Merry Christmas. :)
:gulp:
I know nothing about this case, and I'm no fan of the latest DLC poster boy (Warner). But I find the concept of DNA evidence being destroyed to be very troubling. :(
knuckleboner
11-30-2005, 11:07 AM
come on, BBB.
you don't think that inconclusive DNA evidence being illegally destroyed warrants clemency?
life without parole in virginia means you die prison. if this guy is guilty of the stabbing (which, yeah, there's probably a fairly good chance he is) then he dies in prison.
but if you want the death penalty to stay around, then you should be against anything which calls its validity into question. execute those where there is no doubt. but if you start slacking on the safeguards, there's no question that the courts will begin to look at the process in general with much greater scrutiny.
and i'm guessing you don't want a court to once again find the death penalty to be cruel and unusual punishment. (except for the 9th circuit, of course. who really cares what they find?;))
DLR7884
11-30-2005, 02:51 PM
That would have been the 1,000th execution in VA since 1976.
DLR7884
Oh well, tomorrow's a new day.
Nickdfresh
11-30-2005, 04:57 PM
Originally posted by knuckleboner
come on, BBB.
you don't think that inconclusive DNA evidence being illegally destroyed warrants clemency?
...
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/20/texas.execution.ap/
Exactly!!
Executed man may have been innocent
Witness, co-defendant tell newspaper man wasn't guilty
Sunday, November 20, 2005; Posted: 11:32 p.m. EST (04:32 GMT)
http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2005/US/11/20/texas.execution.ap/vert.cantu.tx.dcj.jpg
Ruben Cantu was charged with capital murder at age 17. He was 26 when he was executed.
HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- Doubts are being cast on the guilt of a Texas man executed more than a dozen years ago after the crime's lone witness recanted and a co-defendant said he allowed his friend to be falsely accused under police pressure, the Houston Chronicle reported Sunday.
Ruben Cantu was 17 in 1984 when he was charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of a man during an attempted robbery in San Antonio. The victim was shot nine times with a rifle before the gunman unloaded more rounds into the only eyewitness.
The eyewitness, Juan Moreno, told the Chronicle that it wasn't Cantu who shot him. Moreno said he identified Cantu as the killer during his 1985 trial because he felt pressured and was afraid of authorities. (Watch the reporter investigating the case -- 3:16)
Meanwhile, Cantu's co-defendant, David Garza, recently signed a sworn affidavit saying he allowed his friend to be accused, even though Cantu wasn't with him the night of the killing.
Cantu was executed at age 26. He had long professed his innocence.
"Part of me died when he died," said Garza, who was 15 at the time of the murder. "You've got a 17-year-old who went to his grave for something he did not do. Texas murdered an innocent person."
Miriam Ward, forewoman of the jury that convicted Cantu, said the panel's decision was the best they could do based on the information presented during the trial.
"With a little extra work, a little extra effort, maybe we'd have gotten the right information," Ward said. "The bottom line is, an innocent person was put to death for it. We all have our finger in that."
Sam D. Millsap Jr., then the Bexar County district attorney who decided to charge Cantu with capital murder, told the newspaper he never should have sought the death penalty in a case based on testimony from an eyewitness who identified a suspect only after police showed him Cantu's photo three separate times.
On the night of the attack, 19-year-old Moreno and his friend, 25-year-old Pedro Gomez, were sleeping in a house they were helping build for Moreno's brother. Burglars had recently struck, so they were guarding the home, located across the street from the trailer where Cantu lived.
Both were awoken by a pair of teenagers demanding money. The older of the two carried a .22-caliber rifle. Gomez was killed; Moreno was shot but survived.
Afterward, Moreno described his attackers as two Mexican-Americans he thought lived nearby.
After a South San Antonio High School teacher mentioned that students were saying Cantu had done the killing, police showed Moreno photos of five Hispanic men, including Cantu. Moreno, however, did not identify Cantu as his attacker and the case appeared closed.
About four months later, Cantu was involved in a bar shooting that injured an off-duty police officer. Cantu said the shooting erupted over a pool game and that he fired only when the officer flashed a gun and threatened him. The officer later said Cantu shot him four times in an unprovoked attack.
That case against Cantu was dropped.
"There was an overreaction, and some of the evidence may have been tainted. It could not be prosecuted," said former homicide Sgt. Bill Ewell, who oversaw the investigation.
Ewell, a friend of the officer, said the bar shooting prompted him to reopen the Gomez murder case.
He sent a bilingual homicide detective to show Cantu's photo to Moreno for the second time. Moreno still did not identify Cantu.
The next day, Ewell sent out a different bilingual detective who brought Moreno, who was then an illegal immigrant, back to the police station. Moreno was again shown Cantu's photo along with four others. The officer's report indicates that Moreno picked out Cantu, then signed and dated the back of the photo.
But the photo submitted into evidence at trial was not dated on the back, according to trial transcripts. Moreno said he felt compelled to do what police wanted, even though he knew it was wrong.
"The police were sure it was (Cantu) because he had hurt a police officer," Moreno said in a recent interview. "They told me they were certain it was him, and that's why I testified."
Ewell, now retired, told the Chronicle, "I'm confident the right people were prosecuted."
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Originally posted by DLR7884
That would have been the 1,000th execution in VA since 1976.
DLR7884
Oh well, tomorrow's a new day.
Actually, that's 1,000 executions nationwide. Not even Texas is that bloodthirsty, let alone Virginia.
LoungeMachine
11-30-2005, 10:38 PM
Originally posted by FORD
I know nothing about this case, and I'm no fan of the latest DLC poster boy (Warner). But I find the concept of DNA evidence being destroyed to be very troubling. :(
Jesus, you shoot down my boy, Biden, and now Warner?
:confused:
Originally posted by LoungeMachine
Jesus, you shoot down my boy, Biden, and now Warner?
:confused:
No, I don't like Warner, but in this case he did the right thing in postponing the execution, based on the question of DNA evidence.
We have to do better than these kiss ass Chimp-lite DLC candidates, or we'll never get this country moving in the proper direction again.
You can't "go to the center" when your already buried in the ditch on the far right of the road. The only direction to go is left. Or straight to Hell, which is where the Chimp is taking us :(
ELVIS
11-30-2005, 10:47 PM
You have no idea where the "center" is...
LoungeMachine
11-30-2005, 10:52 PM
Originally posted by ELVIS
You have no idea where the "center" is...
Sure we do.....
It's about 9-1/2 miles to the left of you. ;)
Originally posted by LoungeMachine
Sure we do.....
It's about 9-1/2 miles to the left of you. ;)
I was going to say 90 degrees left of him, but that works too.
DLR7884
11-30-2005, 11:39 PM
Originally posted by FORD
Actually, that's 1,000 executions nationwide. Not even Texas is that bloodthirsty, let alone Virginia.
Shit, I must have heard that on the radio incorrectly.
DLR7884
Sorry.
knuckleboner
12-01-2005, 11:50 AM
Originally posted by FORD
We have to do better than these kiss ass Chimp-lite DLC candidates, or we'll never get this country moving in the proper direction again.
how exactly does that describe warner?
Guitar Shark
12-01-2005, 11:59 AM
Originally posted by FORD
We have to do better than these kiss ass Chimp-lite DLC candidates, or we'll never get this country moving in the proper direction again.
You can't "go to the center" when your already buried in the ditch on the far right of the road. The only direction to go is left. Or straight to Hell, which is where the Chimp is taking us :(
I disagree 100%, at least with respect to Biden. A leftist Democrat has almost no chance of winning the next election. A centrist Democrat might.
Nickdfresh
12-01-2005, 12:02 PM
Originally posted by Guitar Shark
I disagree 100%, at least with respect to Biden. A leftist Democrat has almost no chance of winning the next election. A centrist Democrat might.
That's true...
Although I think the 'center' may be moving slightly 'left' in the next few years.
ELVIS
12-01-2005, 12:21 PM
Don't count on that...
Two reasons I could never vote for Joe Biden:
1) He is a PNAC signator (http://www.newamericancentury.org/russia-20040928.htm). That makes him a traitor against the United States of America
2) His support of the "Let Credit Card Companies Fuck Over America" bill, Orwellianly called the Bankruptcy "Reform" Act. George Bush's trashing of the economy will hurt many Americans financially. Biden's bill might make the damage irreparable. No Democrat should have supported such an obvious "reverse Robin Hood"* scam.
*(Rob from the poor and give to the rich)
Guitar Shark
12-01-2005, 02:03 PM
You made similar comments about John Kerry, yet you voted for him in the last election.
You'll come around. :)
ELVIS
12-01-2005, 02:06 PM
No, he voted against Bush...
Originally posted by Guitar Shark
You made similar comments about John Kerry, yet you voted for him in the last election.
You'll come around. :)
Judas also said he would fight the vote fraud, and he conceded before the votes in Ohio were even (mis)counted.
There will be no DLC compromise candidate this time.
"If we want to win elections, we've got to stop being Republican lite" - Dr. Howard Dean
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