from his cell on death row, kenneth foster did not pretend to be an innocent. in 1996, foster drove the vehicle within a nighttime crime spree, ferrying close friends to two armed robberies ahead of subsequent a pair of automobiles right into a neighborhood. soon after foster's companion received out and shot one particular of the drivers, the 19-year-old foster whisked the murderer and his other passengers from your scene.
repugnant though they are,
Microsoft Office 2007 Professional, foster's crimes didn't consist of the murder of michael lahood, a 25-year-old law student. through an unprecedented flip of occasions, foster thursday narrowly escaped dying for that murder. towards the surprise of several, gov. rick perry heeded the recommendation of the board of pardons and paroles to commute foster's sentence to lifestyle.
the governor's determination did not, nonetheless, come up from the "law of parties" — the unique texas law that holds all participants within a capital crime equally culpable,
Office Professional Plus 2010, if it can be proved they "should have anticipated" the fatal outcome. the advocates for reducing foster's sentence included 13 members of the legislature, most of whom argued that foster had no idea a shooting would take place. foster and his co-defendants testified that while foster knew of your previous crimes that night, he did not anticipate murder.
he certainly should have. his friend, after all, brandished a loaded gun. but guesswork about the calculations of an impulsive 19-year-old who was high on marijuana and drunk is too flimsy a basis for execution.
perry, while, questioned something else: the fairness of a trial in which shooter and driver were convicted at the same time. when the legislature reconvenes in 2009, lawmakers should act on the governor's suggestion to reconsider the flawed texas law that allows such dual trials.
perry's commutation came only hours before foster was to die. that there was not 1 question, but two about the propriety of his sentence underscores qualms about the unflinching way texas imposes the death penalty. foster would have been the 403rd person to die since the death penalty was restored here.
the case is extraordinary, not just because foster was saved at such a late hour,
Microsoft Office 2007, but because the governor agreed with the parole board that the sentence was unwarranted. not required to follow its recommendations,
Office Enterprise 2007, perry once just before rejected the board's 5-1 vote for clemency in the case of a schizophrenic inmate. that prisoner was executed in 2004.
foster's role in michael lahood's demise deeply harmed his loved ones and society. putting foster to death, even so, would have been an unfit punishment for the part he played. the pro-death penalty perry was wise to acknowledge that, in this case, existence in prison was just.
at the same time, foster's close call — and the multiple questions about the fairness with the sentence — only deepens doubts about other texas convictions that ended in lethal injection. it took a timely mix of evidence,
Office 2007, representation and political leadership to forestall kenneth foster's execution. absent any a single of these at the right moment, the miscarriage of justice would have been permanent.
Microsoft Office 2007 timely judgment perry wise
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