Abrash (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ad_kay) wrote,@ 2007-08-30 17:52:00 |
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Texas actually commutes a sentence instead of killing someone!
In 1996, Kenneth Foster was a dumbshit 19-yr-old who drove the car while a couple of his buddies robbed people at gunpoint. One of his buddies got pissed off at a guy and killed him. Under Texas's Law of Parties, which does not grant exceptions for capital cases, Foster was convicted of murder too. The actual shooter was executed last year. Blogger Sean-Paul Kelley was friends with the murdered man Wayne LaHood, and wrote about Foster's case at his blog The Agonist.
Foster was scheduled to be executed today. But Gov. Goodhair, Bob Perry, did something that W never did: he commuted the death sentence. Did Perry do this because he felt Foster was unfairly convicted--or was itdue to the 5,000 calls and emails to the governor's office and the state board of pardons and paroles? Whatever Perry's motivations, he did spare a life today--and he signaled that he would like the Legislature to revisit allowing capital defendants to be tried simultaneously for the same crime.
Click here to send email thanking Gov. Goodhair If we're going to beat up on public officials when they screw up, we should also give them a cookie when they do something right--whatever their motivation.
In 1996, Kenneth Foster was a dumbshit 19-yr-old who drove the car while a couple of his buddies robbed people at gunpoint. One of his buddies got pissed off at a guy and killed him. Under Texas's Law of Parties, which does not grant exceptions for capital cases, Foster was convicted of murder too. The actual shooter was executed last year. Blogger Sean-Paul Kelley was friends with the murdered man Wayne LaHood, and wrote about Foster's case at his blog The Agonist.
Foster was scheduled to be executed today. But Gov. Goodhair, Bob Perry, did something that W never did: he commuted the death sentence. Did Perry do this because he felt Foster was unfairly convicted--or was itdue to the 5,000 calls and emails to the governor's office and the state board of pardons and paroles? Whatever Perry's motivations, he did spare a life today--and he signaled that he would like the Legislature to revisit allowing capital defendants to be tried simultaneously for the same crime.
Click here to send email thanking Gov. Goodhair If we're going to beat up on public officials when they screw up, we should also give them a cookie when they do something right--whatever their motivation.
