Has DNA ever cleared someone who is on death row? Has someone been put to death who was innocent? If the answers are yes, then the death penalty should be abolished. The first argument is that states use illegal execution drugs. Arizona and Texas ordered Sodium Thiopental (a drug that id used to paralyses the muscles and stop the heart). Sodium Thiopental is an unapproved drug that may not be imported into the country. But Arizona paid nearly $27,000 for the Sodium Thiopental which federal agents intercepted when it had arrived at Phoenix airports. The second argument pint is that innocent people are on death row. Gary Graham (A.KA. Sankafa) was sentenced to death in the year of 2000 at the age of 18, in 1981 in Texas for a robbery and murder of Bobby Lambert. Carlos Deluna was executed in Texas, in 1989 for a crime (stabbing a women named Wanda Lopez). Troy Davis and Sylvester Cole, were in a parking lot in Georgia in 1989 when Cole attacked a homeless man named Larry Young. An off duty officer goy shot and killed by someone with a .38 revolver Cole said he had the .38 revolver and other even said it was him who killed the officer. But Davis was convicted as the murder so he was executed on September 21, 2011. Without, the death penalty, no innocent life would be taken including; Graham, Deluna, or Davis. …show more content…
Bobby Allen had worked on death row for over decade but, he says those years were extremely confusing. Eventually Allen developed internal “emotional issues” and heavy drinking problems. Allen tried to be so professional but, some officers didn’t even care. They bought a couch to watch more. Allen believed that people can change, a man named William was going to be executed but was overturned, and he is now an ordained minister who preaches at prisons and youth detentions all over the country. People like Allen should be able to go home and say they had a good day at
Anthony Graves was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death by the state of Texas. His conviction was for the murders of Bobbie Davis, her adult daughter, and her four grandchildren on October 21, 1994. He was to be executed on October 27, 2010, but was exonerated due to new evidence surfacing about Charles Sebesta, Anthony’s lawyer.
Karla Faye Tucker killed two people in 1983. Tucker confessed to the crime, and was executed in 1998. The interesting thing about Tucker’s case, however, is that she claimed to have turned her life around while in prison. She was no longer using drugs, had found religion, and had even gotten married. But none of this was enough to change her sentencing from execution to life in prison.
Anthony Graves is one of hundreds of individuals that were wrongfully incarcerated. Anthony Graves was convicted and sentenced to death for the brutal 1992 murder of six people. In 2006 Anthony’s sentence was reversed by a federal court. He served four more years in prison until his release in 2010. Anthony Graves spent a total of 18 years of his life imprisoned, 12 of which were on death row for a crime he did not commit (Soria 2010).
Graves and Carter and Carter’s wife were indicted for the murders. Carter was convicted in February 1994. Carter was sentenced to death. Graves went on trial in October 1994. Right before court, Carter met with the prosecutor and said that he alone, committed the crime.
Troy Davis: Troy Davis was accused of the killing of a police officer. As it often happens in cases like this, the police force, feeling personally involved, overstepped their positions as officers of the law. For Troy Davis, one of the most apparent ways in which the police failed was their treatment of the witnesses. During the trial in 2007, nine witnesses appeared before the court to testify that they had seen Davis assault a homeless man and murder a police officer. By 2011, seven of the nine recanted their testimonies.
Claude Jones was executed for the murder of liquor store owner Allen Hilzendarger, in San Jacinto County in 1989. Hilzendarger was shot three times with a .357 magnum as he turned to retrieve a bottle of liquor. Jones and another man were seen pulling into the liquor store. One stayed in the car while the other went inside and shot the owner. Witnesses who were standing across the road couldn’t see the killer, but Jones and two other men, Kerry Dixon and Timothy Jordan, were linked to the murder.
Back in 1796 there were more than 10 innocent people killed and today about 4.1 percent of the people executed are innocent, and that’s more than enough. I think it is un fair to families, friends and the defendant to have their life taken if they are not guilty, If the law officials cannot prove whether or not the defendant is guilty then the death penalty should be abolished. Now on the other side, executing someone who is actually guilty; I do not support this either. I strongly believe that someone who commits a capital crime and has received the death penalty deserves to suffer for the rest of their life. Democratic leaders will be the ones to change the death penalty.
These arguments can be supported and solidified by the cases of Andre Thomas and Anthony Graves. Those who wish to abolish the death penalty may begin by arguing that
As a first issue that the death penalty can have is that innocent people can died.. The opponents say that this law is unfair and innocent people can died. According to an inform for the Columbia Human Right showed the case of Carlos DeLuna a man who was died in the hands of the death penalty. In this case the state of Texas do not show evidences like DNA, they only use a eyewitness testimony to convicted Carlos DeLuna. Also, two decades after the execution of Carlos DeLuna people knew the truth about the case and men was innocent.
Carroll attacked two couples parked in a lover’s lane with a hammer. He was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to work for thirty days at the county’s work farm. Three years later he moved to Dallas, Texas to live near his brother. (Richmond) Two months later Carroll attempted suicide after a failed strangulation attempt of a woman he met. A couple of years after that he was convicted of arson.
When Antonio was thirteen, he and his brother was shot during a drive by, Antonio was critically injured and his brother died. Antonio was diagnosed with PTSD and moved out of South Central for his own safety. Antonio spent about six months in Nevada but was summoned to move back to California because he was on probation. When Antonio moved back, one night he went with two older men, who kidnapped a man and when pursued by the police, shots were fired towards the police. Although no one was injured during the incident, Antonio at the tender age of fourteen was sentenced to imprisonment without the possibly of parole.
He was the 17th inmate put the death in that state this year. He was believed to be the only condemned inmate in the nation ever paroled and then returned to death row for another murder. Before his very first murder conviction, he has had many attempts of burglary. One of the three females he had killed and raped was sexually abused and raped for hours.
While there are far more subjects to discuss regarding to this issue, I feel it necessary to state that I believe the death penalty should exist in a perfect society. I believe that certain crimes and certain situations warrant the punishment of death. However, the our society is not perfect. The justice system has failed to fairly use this punishment in far too many instances, and concludes that they cannot justly wield this
Carlos DeLuna- In 1989, DeLuna was executed for the stabbing of 24-year-old gas station attendant in Corpus Christi, Texas. About 20 years later, Chicago Tribune uncovered evidence that shows DeLuna was likely innocent. The evidence showed that Carlos Hernandez, a man who even confessed to the murder many times, actually did the crime. Did he confess while Carlos DeLuna was being accused? Yes he did
The major reason why the death penalty should be abolished is that the cost of the death penalty is too much and the USA is in debt to many other countries. What this means is that the death penalty should be abolished and also the cost death penalty is more than the cost of maximum sentence life in prison. According to J. Marceau and H. Whitson, “The Cost of Colorado’s Death penalty,” 3 Univ. of Denver Criminal Law Review “A new study of the cost of the death penalty in Colorado revealed that capital proceedings require six times more days in court and