It's the sort of thing that can be parsed and parsed and parsed again. A split the baby ruling.
It's Colorado and the case of Edward Montour who, you may recall, is facing trial for the murder of Eric Autobee. Montour was in prison at the time for murder. Autobee was a prison guard. The district attorney's pushing for death and trying, desperately, to keep Autobee's parents (Bob and Lois Autobee) away from the jury. Because they don't want Montour sentenced to death. Nor, they say, would their son have wanted that.
The jury can't know, said DA George Brauchler. Juries can only be told about how the killer is evil and destroyed the parents' lives. Victims aren't allowed to express compassion. Which is bullshit, but this is the US of A so a judge gets to decide.
And like I said, we have a ruling.
It's the sort of thing that can be parsed and parsed and parsed again. A split the baby ruling.
Maybe. Then again, maybe not.
- The Autobees can testify. (Take that Brauchler).
- The Autobees cannot say that they oppose the death penalty for Montour. (Take that Autobees.)
- The Autobees can talk about how the death of their son devastated them. (You go Brauchler.)
- The Autobees can talk about how the death of his killer might devaste them. (You go Autobees.)
Here's the key language.
Thus, the Autobees may testify about the emotional impact of a death sentence or a life sentence, so long as the evidence is within the confines ofC.R.S. § 18-1.3-1201(1)(b). However, the Autobees will not be allowed to testify about what sentence the jury should impose.Which could mean (we're talking Legal here, not English) just about anything.
Meanwhile the DA is asking either to exclude 11 defense witnesses or to delay the trial.
Oh, and it turns out that Montour maybe shouldn't have been in prison in the first place because he hadn't killed anyone. Although the prior killing is part of what made him eligible for death.
Really, you can't make this shit up.
h/t Gideon
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In a similar vein, here's a telling quote from a prosecutor.
ReplyDeleteIn order to help heal the painful loss of a murdered child, Wright says, people often want to move on quickly, and even begin forgiving the perpetrator. She says she has to be an advocate for the dead child in order to make sure those involved see the case through.
http://www.npr.org/2014/03/02/284540357/attorney-for-young-victims-helps-families-in-search-of-justice
Hell, somebody has to keep the hatred alive.
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