Monday, September 07, 2009

What if ...

There are many sides to the truth. But if the evidence against the conviction and execution of this man is even half-true, then his prosecutors have a load on their collective conscience that may be greater than most convicted felons’.

Read it. It’s a cautionary tale against pre-judging anybody. It drives home (and indeed quotes) the greatest argument against capital punishment – that it may lead to the state murdering an innocent man. This makes sense to me now, even though some years ago I posted on this blog in favour of the execution of one Dhananjay who'd been convicted of rape and murder.

And it twists my insides to think of a man losing his children to a fire, then being accused, tried and convicted of murdering them, THEN spending 12 years waiting for his death for a crime he possibly didn’t commit.


Update: Krishna, in the comments section, links to The Innocence Project. Worth a look. And another.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Then there's Arushi's father...

Anon E Mouse

Ron said...

I was actually also thinking of Arushi's father. We still dont know whether he is innocent or guilty. But if he is innocent...I cant imagine what he went through, what he is still going through.

I too staunchly supported the death sentence in the Dhananjay case. Am beginning to question my belief that some crimes deserve the harshest penalty possible.

km said...

JAP: If you are interested, you should read about the Kirk Bloodsworth case (and the Innocence Project).

Idling in Top Gear said...

Brilliant read, that. It reminds me of the movie "The Life of David Gale."

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