Wrong Man executed in 1983 murder case AKA Texas law fails once again - Polidicks

[quote=yahoo]He was the spitting image of the killer, had the same first name and was near the scene of the crime at the fateful hour: Carlos DeLuna paid the ultimate price and was executed in place of someone else in Texas in 1989, a report out Tuesday found. Even "all the relatives of both Carloses mistook them," and DeLuna was sentenced to death and executed based only on eyewitness accounts despite a range of signs he was not a guilty man, said law professor James Liebman. Liebman and five of his students at Columbia School of Law spent almost five years poring over details of a case that he says is "emblematic" of legal system failure. DeLuna, 27, was put to death after "a very incomplete investigation. No question that the investigation is a failure," Liebman said. The report's authors found "numerous missteps, missed clues and missed opportunities that let authorities prosecute Carlos DeLuna for the crime of murder, despite evidence not only that he did not commit the crime but that another individual, Carlos Hernandez, did," the 780-page investigation found. The report, entitled "Los Tocayos Carlos: Anatomy of a Wrongful Execution," traces the facts surrounding the February 1983 murder of Wanda Lopez, a single mother who was stabbed in the gas station where she worked in a quiet corner of the Texas coastal city of Corpus Christi. "Everything went wrong in this case," Liebman said. That night Lopez called police for help twice to protect her from an individual with a switchblade. "They could have saved her, they said 'we made this arrest immediately' to overcome the embarrassment," Liebman said. Forty minutes after the crime Carlos DeLuna was arrested not far from the gas station. He was identified by only one eyewitness who saw a Hispanic male running from the gas station. But DeLuna had just shaved and was wearing a white dress shirt -- unlike the killer, who an eyewitness said had a mustache and was wearing a grey flannel shirt. Even though witnesses accounts were contradictory -- the killer was seen fleeing towards the north, while DeLuna was caught in the east -- DeLuna was arrested. "I didn't do it, but I know who did," DeLuna said at the time, saying that he saw Carlos Hernandez entering the service station. DeLuna said he ran from police because he was on parole and had been drinking. Hernandez, known for using a blade in his attacks, was later jailed for murdering a woman with the same knife. But in the trial, the lead prosecutor told the jury that Hernandez was nothing but a "phantom" of DeLuna's imagination. DeLuna's budget attorney even said that it was probable that Carlos Hernandez never existed. However in 1986 a local newspaper published a photograph of Hernandez in an article on the DeLuna case, Liebman said. Following hasty trial DeLuna was executed by lethal injection in 1989. Up to the day he died in prison of cirrhosis of the liver, Hernandez repeatedly admitted to murdering Wanda Lopez, Liebman said. "Unfortunately, the flaws in the system that wrongfully convicted and executed DeLuna -- faulty eyewitness testimony, shoddy legal representation and prosecutorial misconduct -- continue to send innocent men to their death today," read a statement that accompanies the report.[/quote] [url]http://news.yahoo.com/wrong-man-executed-texas-probe-says-051125159.html[/url] How the fuck could this happen. Even the eye witness testimony that lead to the guilty verdict indicated it was another person.

W-what...?

Hooray for death penalty, right?

Death sentences are clearly needed in a modern society. No question about that.

-snip i'm fucking retarded-

[QUOTE=LewyJudge12;35966255]What are you smoking[/QUOTE] Sarcasm is one hell of a drug, man.

[QUOTE=GoDong-DK;35966182]Death sentences are clearly needed in a modern society. No question about that.[/QUOTE] With modern technology to figure out who did crimes, yes.

[QUOTE=OffTheRoad;35966263]Sarcasm is one hell of a drug, man.[/QUOTE] Oh shit now I feel stupid :( Sorry, it was kinda hard to tell

[QUOTE=LewyJudge12;35966308]Oh shit now I feel stupid :( Sorry, it was kinda hard to tell[/QUOTE] It happens to the best of us, so don't worry about it.

That's just sad :tinfoil:

Convicts have more right to die in a less painful manner than the average citizen. What bullshit is that?

Well I hope any of you who support the death penalty are happy to know that this is the legal system you trust with such power over life and death.

[QUOTE=TheSporeGA;35966304]It modern technology to figure out who did crimes, yes.[/QUOTE] I think you accidentally a word or two there

Very sad story. It's even sadder to think he's probably not nearly the first one to suffer such injustice.

[QUOTE=Daemon;35966366]Convicts have more right to die in a less painful manner than the average citizen. What bullshit is that?[/QUOTE] I know, what a fucking asshole. He goes and gets himself wrongfully convicted and doesn't even have the courtesy to die painfully, that cock sucking ass monger.

[quote]DeLuna said he ran from police because he was on parole and had been drinking.[/quote] Don't run kids.

[QUOTE=Craig Willmore;35966866]Don't run kids.[/QUOTE] or we'll fucking murder you

Immediate death sentence to the one who's responsible for this failure!

But but but all civilized and freedom loving countries have the death penalty! It'd be crazy not to hav- oh [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/azyiK.png[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Mr. Scorpio;35966674]I know, what a fucking asshole. He goes and gets himself wrongfully convicted and doesn't even have the courtesy to die painfully, that cock sucking ass monger.[/QUOTE] No, i didn't mean that way. They can euthanize criminals but not medically use it for others who have no option but to seek other painful methods of killing self. I don't want to get mixed up with saying they should die a horrible death or at all but have equal fairness of human rights for those that do want it. Even lesser of a person has the right of a painless death over someone who isn't a criminal. Oh Nevermind...

[QUOTE=Daemon;35967471]No, i didn't mean that way. They can euthanize criminals but not medically use it for others who have no option but to seek other painful methods of killing self. I don't want to get mixed up with saying they should die a horrible death or at all but have equal fairness of human rights for those that do want it. Even lesser of a person has the right of a painless death over someone who isn't a criminal. I don't support execution. Oh Nevermind...[/QUOTE] I get what you are saying but it is completely irrelevant to this thread.

[QUOTE=Daemon;35967471]No, i didn't mean that way. They can euthanize criminals but not medically use it for others who have no option but to seek other painful methods of killing self. I don't want to get mixed up with saying they should die a horrible death or at all but have equal fairness of human rights for those that do want it. Even lesser of a person has the right of a painless death over someone who isn't a criminal. Oh Nevermind...[/QUOTE] Most people on death row don't want to die.

[QUOTE=carcarcargo;35967930]Most people on death row don't want to die.[/QUOTE] Most people don't want to die.

[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;35967960]Most people don't want to die.[/QUOTE] Suicidal people do.

How exactly is this relevant to any current events considering this happened over 20 years ago?

[QUOTE=carcarcargo;35968003]Suicidal people do.[/QUOTE] Hence the "most".

[QUOTE=Broseph_;35968138]How exactly is this relevant to any current events considering this happened over 20 years ago?[/QUOTE] The report was issued recently and shows how flawed the system was/is.

[QUOTE=Broseph_;35968138]How exactly is this relevant to any current events considering this happened over 20 years ago?[/QUOTE] The fact that 20 years later the death penalty still exists.

How on earth could you possibly make this kind of a mistake after six years? Surely that's plenty of time to figure out you have the wrong person...

What we have to remember is that the court of law is kind of like a series of specific magic tricks going on in front of a judge who is forced to behave like an eight year old. The Judge or Jury are exposed only to very specific material, and great lengths are taken to ensure that they are not "prejudiced" by certain materials. Many prosecutors particularly ones acting on behalf of the State, are rated on their convictions rather than correct convictions so they are charged with building the strongest presentable cases and often from experience have some insight into what best motivates the judge. Meanwhile, public defenders or even most affordable private defenders are sadly only novice lawyers who are trying to build a career. This means that while they may be good, and even highly skilled in some manner, they still do not have the full range of "magic tricks" and personal insights needed to position the legal ball where they want it in the court. So the Prosecution does everything it needs to produce the admissible legal material that "proves" guilt or atleast forces the judge/jury to admit that they cannot doubt the guilt of the convicted party. In fact, since cases are made almost entirely before the actual trial and both parties of defence and prosecution are virtually fully aware of the material that is in both sides (to prevent Trial-by-Ambush Matlock style "aha! but here we have THE WEPON") it unfortunately "quickly" boils down to a sick sort of statutory chess game with one side saying "mate in three moves." This is a good example of the extreme worsts of the American Justice System, but it hardly undermines the larger number of correct and just convictions. It also I think hardly means that the death penalty should be suspended on behalf of the "faulty" system if only because many people still do agree that there are crimes so mind boggling and vile that death is the only correct response. Taking into account the -very- lengthy appeals process that goes into actually arriving at a death penalty (Texas has exemptions. Express lane HO!) the number of "wrongful" executions is relatively low and even "righteous" executions are more often than not reduced to life sentences long before they are administered.