We do not want to endure a trial. We do not want to be witnesses to a media spectacle where our loved ones' lives and the details of the horrendous criminal acts inflicted upon them are spotlighted. We do not believe a costly and lengthy trial, with millions of dollars spent on multiple appeals, would deliver any degree of comfort or closure. We are aware that likely appeals could make this case drag on for years or even decades to come. The death penalty for Anthony Sowell is not necessary, or even desirable, in comparison to the grief we families will continue to suffer under the realities and uncertainties of the criminal justice system.
That's from a petition signed by the families of 8 of the women alleged to have been murdered (and then some) by Anthony Sowell.
Here's the whole thing.
In the courtroom, they were picking the jury. In the office of Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason, they were receiving the petition.
I wrote about these families the other day. About how they didn't want to live through the trial, to hear the details, to wallow. About how they didn't need blood, they needed an end.
A week ago, Mason said he was determined to get Sowell sentenced to die. Leila Atassi, writing in the Plain Dealer, has a sort of update.
When asked to react to the petition, Mason said, "It's their right."
Sure. But that doesn't really answer the question, does it Bill?
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But surely what the victims want isn't the point? The prosecution is conducted by the state on behalf of the state, not on behalf of the victims (something the victims rights lobby, at least here in Australia, can't seem to grasp). Just as I don't want alleged offenders prosecuted purely because their alleged victims are noisy, I'm not interested in alleged criminals *not* being prosecuted purely because their alleged victims don't want them to.
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