tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5945843206427351559.post8457095099302751920..comments2024-01-25T14:51:13.377-05:00Comments on Gamso - For the Defense: Gratuitous Indeed.Jeff Gamsohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09869425697771419546noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5945843206427351559.post-49620382064085008192022-12-07T01:27:49.890-05:002022-12-07T01:27:49.890-05:00Regarding the actual legal issue, would there real...Regarding the actual legal issue, would there really have been any chance at all for Khorry's case? Is there any precedent for someone suing to change the rules on who gets to be present at the execution?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5945843206427351559.post-69364356017218186302022-12-06T11:57:15.813-05:002022-12-06T11:57:15.813-05:00While I agree generally that MO could have just le...While I agree generally that MO could have just let the daughter attend, and probably should have;<br /><br />1) The wheels of the legal system grind intolerably slowly, so it's really hard to argue that someone approaching the end of their appeals doesn't see it coming. It's unlikely that the defense thought they could eke out another two years so that she would be the required 21 years old, and lawyers working death row cases in death row states absolutely should know about restrictions like those. So while it's possible, I suppose, that no one had explained those restrictions to Khorry, I'm going to uncharitably suggest that someone probably did, and it's not unlikely that this is an 11th hour stalling tactic. <br /><br />2) Questioning whether the race of Johnson is material, I think, brutally misses the forest for the trees: Before going further Of course Johnson is guilty.<br /><br />The facts of this case seem relatively uncontroversial. Johnson, as a 19 year old adult, armed himself and sought out McEntee, who Johnson blamed (with reason, but really... That's not an excuse) for the death of his brother, said so out loud, and then shot him. Whether you agree with the death penalty or not, there are precious few fact patterns more clear cut than this. Might a white defendant have been treated more leniently by the system? I suppose it's possible, but unlikely... The system for better or worse, seems to take killing policemen more seriously than other murders. <br /><br />Might the race of the jury makeup skewed the verdict? Also maybe... But the question then is "Did we lift the floor or lower the ceiling?" If there was a racial component here, I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that the assumption is that white juries might be more willing to convict a black person that black people might be, and in marginal cases, that might actually be an issue, but in cases like this, that assumption ends up that black jurists might be more likely to nullify the law based on some kind of racial solidarity with the defendant. Again... Johnson was obviously guilty. So while someone who doesn't like the death penalty might see the jury nullification that was the hung jury as a positive, the reality is that while juries have the right to nullify, it's probably not good on the whole that they do. Humble Talenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07644282119562053566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5945843206427351559.post-32308744810384504362022-11-29T15:48:51.306-05:002022-11-29T15:48:51.306-05:00Expecting Jack Marshall to actually address the Co...Expecting Jack Marshall to actually address the Constitutional issues at play in any case is a fool's errand. Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05031641973034384941noreply@blogger.com