To: Media and Government throughout New Mexico and
U of New Mexico
“The Exonerated” – anti truth, anti victim – are any actually innocent?
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters
This play is presented as a true story of six innocents sent to death row because of corruption within the system.
The Exonerated is a true story just as CATS and The Lion King are.
Reviews of each case, with links and contacts for your own review.
1) Robert Earl Hayes Nothing about Hayes’ retrial changes the appeals court’s original observation that evidence existed to establish Hayes’ guilt. Hayes has now been convicted of a nearly identical murder in New York, which was committed prior to the murder in Florida. Go to
no. 74 at http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/DPIC.htm
and pages 36-39 at http://www.floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/Publications/innocentsproject.pdf
2) Sunny Jacobs — After the shooting, still at the scene of the murders, a trooper asked Jacobs: “Do you like shooting troopers?” Jacobs response: “We had to.”
The best review of the blatant dishonesty of this “Exonerated” case is “The Myth of Innocence”, Josh Marquis, The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, v 95, No 2, Winter, 2005, Northwestern University School of Law.
Mr. Marquis can be reached at CoastDA@aol.com, or 503-791-0012.
There is no evidence to support a claim of innocence for Jacobs in the murder of two police officers in Florida. She eventually pled guilty to two counts of second degree murder and was released for time served, after 16 years. Hardly a finding of innocence.
go to pages 40-46 at www (dot) floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/Publications/innocentsproject.pdf
3) David Keaton — Keaton’s defense attorney stated that even without Keaton’s numerous confessions, that the eyewitness testimony was likely sufficient to convict Keaton for the capital murder.
Through the testimony of numerous eyewitnesses, Keaton’s numerous confessions, as well as those of co-defendants, Keaton was sentenced to death. There is no credible claim for innocence in this case of robbery/murder. The case was overturned on appeal. The prosecution chose not to re prosecute for a number of good reasons — 1. he was no longer subject to the death penalty, because of changes in the law 2. Keaton was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a robbery that he committed ten days prior to the robbery/murder for which he was sentenced to death and 3. illness of witnesses.
Keaton was sentenced to death in 1971, under the old death penalty law. He was on death row for 13 months when the US Supreme Court overturned all death penalty cases in Furman v Georgia.
Read pages 60-68 at www (dot) floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/Publications/innocentsproject.pdf
4) Delbert Tibbs — The Florida Supreme Court candidly conceded that it should not have reversed Tibbs’ conviction since the evidence was legally sufficient.
The state prosecutor who chose not to retry Tibbs recently explained to the Florida Commission on Capital Crimes that Tibbs “was never an innocent man wrongfully accused. He was a lucky human being. He was guilty, he was lucky and now he is free.”
See no.10 at http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/DPIC.htm
and pages 134-138 at www(dot)floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/Publications/innocentsproject.pdf
5) Kerry Max Cook — The judge, in accepting Cook’s no contest plea, said that Cook was guilty of the crime and that the state was capable of proving its case.
This is not a DNA exoneration case.
Mr. Cook was convicted of the murder of Linda Jo Edwards, who was found in her apartment on June 10, 1977, beaten on the head with a plaster statue, stabbed in the throat, chest and back and sexually mutilated. Mr. Cook was arrested 2 months later where he worked as a bartender in Port Arthur. Officers said they found Mr. Cook’s fingerprint on Ms. Edwards’ apartment door. At first he denied knowing Ms. Edwards. Cook lied. He later said they met at the apartment complex’s swimming pool and he went to her apartment. His original conviction resulting in a death sentence was overturned because of prosecutorial misconduct. A 1992 retrial ended in a hung jury. He was again convicted and sentenced to death in 1994. That verdict was overturned in 1996. Before a 4th trial, Mr. Cook pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of murder. He was sentenced to 20 years time served. Mr. Cook took the deal so he could avoid a possible return to death row. By taking the plea, both Cook and his attorneys conceded that this is hardly a case where there is no evidence for guilt and certainly not a case with confirmable actual innocence.
for more on this case, contact David Dobbs at david (at) davidedobbs.com
6) Gary Gauger — Gauger confessed to the murder of his parents. That confession was thrown out based upon the lack of probable cause to arrest him. Gauger’s ex-wife and children filed a wrongful death suit against Gauger in the murder of his parents. Gary’s brother remains so convinced of Gary’s guilt in the murders of their parents, that he has prepared a review of the case which claims to support Gary’s guilt, even though there are now two other people jailed for the murders.
Furthermore, the trial court erroneously imposed a death sentence. The court granted a motion for reconsideration and vacated the sentence less than ten months later in September 1994. The trial court found that it had not considered all the mitigating evidence and concluded that Gauger should not be sentenced to death. People v. Bull, 705 N.E.2d 824, 843 (Ill. 1999); Chicago Tribune (9/23/94). Gauger served a brief time on death row. He was not properly sentenced to death by the trial court. He should never have been sent to death row because the trial court did not finally sentence him to be executed. Gauger’s case is an example of how consideration of mitigating evidence under current law results in a sentence less than death.
see no. 69 at www(dot)prodeathpenalty.com/DPIC.htm
Some additional articles:
“Cross-Examination for a Drama That Puts the Death Penalty on Trial”, Adam Liptak, New York Times, January 27, 2005
www(dot)nytimes.com/2005/01/27/theater/newsandfeatures/27pros.htm
“Prosecutors take exception to Court TV film”, Richard Willing, USA TODAY, 1/24/05http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-01-24-exonerated_x.htm
“The Myth of Innocenceon’t believe everything you see on CourtTV”, Joshua Marquis, National Review, 1/27/05 www(dot)nationalreview.com/comment/marquis200501270742.as
—————————
Are audiences being duped to further a political/social agenda? Of course. And theater critivcs? They simply don’t bother to fact check and blindly accept and repeat whatever the producers tell them.
Only one theater critic, Tom Sime of the Dallas Morning News, bothered to see if the claims were true. His brief review resulted in this published comment: “Maybe three are actually innocent and three actually aren’t. In any case, blind faith – in the criminal justice process or in the truth of crusading art- is best left at home.”
“The Exonerated” is strictly a bit of anti-death penalty deception, which is not at all surprising. It appears that the Soros Foundation, through their Open Society Institute (OSI) is the primary benefactor of “The Exonerated” . The Soros Foundation finances anti death penalty efforts, worldwide.
Copyright 2002-2006
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters
e-mail sharpjfa@aol.com, 713-622-5491,
Houston, Texas
Mr. Sharp has appeared on ABC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, FOX, NBC, NPR, PBS, BBC and many other TV and radio networks, on such programs as Nightline, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, The O’
Reilly Factor, etc., has been quoted in newspapers throughout the world and is a published author.
A former opponent of capital punishment, he has written and granted interviews about, testified on and debated the subject of the death penalty, extensively and internationally.
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters
This play is presented as a true story of six innocents sent to death row because of corruption within the system.
The Exonerated is a true story just as CATS and The Lion King are.
Reviews of each case, with links and contacts for your own review.
1) Robert Earl Hayes Nothing about Hayes’ retrial changes the appeals court’s original observation that evidence existed to establish Hayes’ guilt. Hayes has now been convicted of a nearly identical murder in New York, which was committed prior to the murder in Florida. Go to
no. 74 at http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/DPIC.htm
and pages 36-39 at http://www.floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/Publications/innocentsproject.pdf
2) Sunny Jacobs — After the shooting, still at the scene of the murders, a trooper asked Jacobs: “Do you like shooting troopers?” Jacobs response: “We had to.”
The best review of the blatant dishonesty of this “Exonerated” case is “The Myth of Innocence”, Josh Marquis, The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, v 95, No 2, Winter, 2005, Northwestern University School of Law.
Mr. Marquis can be reached at CoastDA@aol.com, or 503-791-0012.
There is no evidence to support a claim of innocence for Jacobs in the murder of two police officers in Florida. She eventually pled guilty to two counts of second degree murder and was released for time served, after 16 years. Hardly a finding of innocence.
go to pages 40-46 at www (dot) floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/Publications/innocentsproject.pdf
3) David Keaton — Keaton’s defense attorney stated that even without Keaton’s numerous confessions, that the eyewitness testimony was likely sufficient to convict Keaton for the capital murder.
Through the testimony of numerous eyewitnesses, Keaton’s numerous confessions, as well as those of co-defendants, Keaton was sentenced to death. There is no credible claim for innocence in this case of robbery/murder. The case was overturned on appeal. The prosecution chose not to re prosecute for a number of good reasons — 1. he was no longer subject to the death penalty, because of changes in the law 2. Keaton was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a robbery that he committed ten days prior to the robbery/murder for which he was sentenced to death and 3. illness of witnesses.
Keaton was sentenced to death in 1971, under the old death penalty law. He was on death row for 13 months when the US Supreme Court overturned all death penalty cases in Furman v Georgia.
Read pages 60-68 at www (dot) floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/Publications/innocentsproject.pdf
4) Delbert Tibbs — The Florida Supreme Court candidly conceded that it should not have reversed Tibbs’ conviction since the evidence was legally sufficient.
The state prosecutor who chose not to retry Tibbs recently explained to the Florida Commission on Capital Crimes that Tibbs “was never an innocent man wrongfully accused. He was a lucky human being. He was guilty, he was lucky and now he is free.”
See no.10 at http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/DPIC.htm
and pages 134-138 at www(dot)floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/Publications/innocentsproject.pdf
5) Kerry Max Cook — The judge, in accepting Cook’s no contest plea, said that Cook was guilty of the crime and that the state was capable of proving its case.
This is not a DNA exoneration case.
Mr. Cook was convicted of the murder of Linda Jo Edwards, who was found in her apartment on June 10, 1977, beaten on the head with a plaster statue, stabbed in the throat, chest and back and sexually mutilated. Mr. Cook was arrested 2 months later where he worked as a bartender in Port Arthur. Officers said they found Mr. Cook’s fingerprint on Ms. Edwards’ apartment door. At first he denied knowing Ms. Edwards. Cook lied. He later said they met at the apartment complex’s swimming pool and he went to her apartment. His original conviction resulting in a death sentence was overturned because of prosecutorial misconduct. A 1992 retrial ended in a hung jury. He was again convicted and sentenced to death in 1994. That verdict was overturned in 1996. Before a 4th trial, Mr. Cook pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of murder. He was sentenced to 20 years time served. Mr. Cook took the deal so he could avoid a possible return to death row. By taking the plea, both Cook and his attorneys conceded that this is hardly a case where there is no evidence for guilt and certainly not a case with confirmable actual innocence.
for more on this case, contact David Dobbs at david (at) davidedobbs.com
6) Gary Gauger — Gauger confessed to the murder of his parents. That confession was thrown out based upon the lack of probable cause to arrest him. Gauger’s ex-wife and children filed a wrongful death suit against Gauger in the murder of his parents. Gary’s brother remains so convinced of Gary’s guilt in the murders of their parents, that he has prepared a review of the case which claims to support Gary’s guilt, even though there are now two other people jailed for the murders.
Furthermore, the trial court erroneously imposed a death sentence. The court granted a motion for reconsideration and vacated the sentence less than ten months later in September 1994. The trial court found that it had not considered all the mitigating evidence and concluded that Gauger should not be sentenced to death. People v. Bull, 705 N.E.2d 824, 843 (Ill. 1999); Chicago Tribune (9/23/94). Gauger served a brief time on death row. He was not properly sentenced to death by the trial court. He should never have been sent to death row because the trial court did not finally sentence him to be executed. Gauger’s case is an example of how consideration of mitigating evidence under current law results in a sentence less than death.
see no. 69 at www(dot)prodeathpenalty.com/DPIC.htm
Some additional articles:
“Cross-Examination for a Drama That Puts the Death Penalty on Trial”, Adam Liptak, New York Times, January 27, 2005
www(dot)nytimes.com/2005/01/27/theater/newsandfeatures/27pros.htm
“Prosecutors take exception to Court TV film”, Richard Willing, USA TODAY, 1/24/05http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-01-24-exonerated_x.htm
“The Myth of Innocenceon’t believe everything you see on CourtTV”, Joshua Marquis, National Review, 1/27/05 www(dot)nationalreview.com/comment/marquis200501270742.as
—————————
Are audiences being duped to further a political/social agenda? Of course. And theater critivcs? They simply don’t bother to fact check and blindly accept and repeat whatever the producers tell them.
Only one theater critic, Tom Sime of the Dallas Morning News, bothered to see if the claims were true. His brief review resulted in this published comment: “Maybe three are actually innocent and three actually aren’t. In any case, blind faith – in the criminal justice process or in the truth of crusading art- is best left at home.”
“The Exonerated” is strictly a bit of anti-death penalty deception, which is not at all surprising. It appears that the Soros Foundation, through their Open Society Institute (OSI) is the primary benefactor of “The Exonerated” . The Soros Foundation finances anti death penalty efforts, worldwide.
Copyright 2002-2006
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters
e-mail sharpjfa@aol.com, 713-622-5491,
Houston, Texas
Mr. Sharp has appeared on ABC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, FOX, NBC, NPR, PBS, BBC and many other TV and radio networks, on such programs as Nightline, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, The O’
Reilly Factor, etc., has been quoted in newspapers throughout the world and is a published author.
A former opponent of capital punishment, he has written and granted interviews about, testified on and debated the subject of the death penalty, extensively and internationally.
ever hear of coercing a conviction when someone is mentally distressed and kept awake for days at a time?! maybe some further research would benefit you and your ignorance.
With all of the coercive power which the state has, it really is small wonder that people routinely accept plea bargains for crimes which they never committed. Particularly in the Kerry Max Cook case, where the DA’s office clearly was going to convict Cook or no one. The Prosecutor in that case has said that he could not get a conviction without the testimony of David Hoehn; the very testimony which the Court of Appeals rejected as tainted.
Christine, if you would be so kind as to tell me which case you are referring to, I would be happy to look at it.
Supporters of the abolition of capital punishment are liars and deshonestos.Amnisty International, Human Rights Watch and Penal Reform claim that they want to abolish the death penalty so that they do not die innocent victims of miscarriages of justice but what they do not say is that it is opposed to ferormente The life without parole (lwop) to justify having granted parole to murderers of children and serial killers.Lo truth is that if we defend the parole for lifers assume a high risk that the criminal released vueva to asesinar.casos as Kenneth_Allen_McDuff, Gilberto Champa, Darryl Kemp etc.Si say that the rehabilitation support for these murderers admitting the risk of dying innocents.
Supporters of the abolition of capital punishment are liars and deshonestos.Amnisty International, Human Rights Watch and Penal Reform claim that they want to abolish the death penalty so that they do not die innocent victims of miscarriages of justice but what they do not say is that it is opposed to ferormente The life without parole (lwop) to justify having granted parole to murderers of children and serial killers.Lo truth is that if we defend the parole for lifers assume a high risk that the criminal released vueva to asesinar.casos as Kenneth_Allen_McDuff, Gilberto Champa, Darryl Kemp etc.Si say that the rehabilitation support for these murderers admitting the risk of dying innocents.Should know the Spanish experience in abolishing the death penalty.The answer is yes. “Lisa have reason: Dear Jeff Jacoby am a reader of yours through periodic Spanish Libertad Digital, and I would like you to comment on the criticism he has made to organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Wacht for his opposition to the death penalty reason for my mail is reveal the hidden agenda of the abolitionist. You and many people of goodwill who believe abolitionists want to replace the death penalty for life without parole (lwop) unfortunately is not true defenders of the rights of criminals also oppose the parole life sentence with or without parole, these penalties along with the death penalty is banned in Spain and most of Latin America. If you do not believe me ask him to look on the Internet data on terrorist and murderer of 25 people Juana Chaos, a case even more shameful that the the Texan Kennet Mc Duff.
Dudley Sharp’s usual MO is to produce a blizzard of meaningless stats to defend his beloved death penalty. Whether truly innocent or victim of a technically flawed conviotion, every one of the 129 exonerations since 1973 is a diabolical travesty where the justice system failed in the most serious manner. It is very inconvenient for those who support the death penalty, but those 129 are very strong reasons why the death penalty must be abolished NOW.
the 129 is an obvious deception by anti death penalty folks.
I recommend you fact check. Start below. And please point out my alleged “menaingless stats”. Please.
Re: fact checking issues, on innocence and the death penalty.
It is very important to take note that the 130 exonerated from death row is a blatant scam, easily uncovered by fact checking.
The Death Penalty Information Center has been responsible for some of the most serious deceptions by the anti death penalty side, includsive of this 130 exonerated and innocence scam.
Dieter and DPIC have produced the claims regarding the exonerated and innocents released from death row list. The scam is that DPIC just decided to redefine what exonerated and innocence mean according to their own perverse definitions.
Richard Dieter, head of the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC): defining what “exonerated” or “innocent” means.
“. . . (DPIC) makes no distinction between legal and factual innocence. ” ‘They’re innocent in the eyes of the law,’ Dieter says. ‘That’s the only objective standard we have.’ “
That is untrue, of course. We are all aware of the differences between legal guilt and actual guilt and legal innocence (not guilty) and actual innocence, just as the courts are.
Furthermore, there is no finding of actual innocence, but it is “not guilty”. Dieter knows that we are all speaking of actual innocence, those cases that have no connection to the murder(s). He takes advantage of that by redefining exonerated and innocence.
Dieter “clarifies” the three ways that former death row inmates get onto their “exonerated” by “innocence” list.
“A defendant whose conviction is overturned by a judge must be further exonerated in one of three ways: he must be acquitted at a new trial, or the prosecutor must drop the charges against him, or a governor must grant an absolute pardon.”
None establishes actual innocence.
DPIC has ” . . . included supposedly innocent defendants who were still culpable as accomplices to the actual triggerman.”
DPIC: “There may be guilty persons among the innocents, but that includes all of us.”
Good grief. DPIC wishes to apply collective guilt of capital murder to all of us.
Dieter states: “I don’t think anybody can know about a person’s absolute innocence.” (Green). Dieter said he could not pinpoint how many are “actually innocent” — only the defendants themselves truly know that, he said.” (Erickson)
Or Dieter won’t assert actual innocence in 1, 102 or 350 cases. He doesn’t want to clarify a real number with proof of actual innocence, that would blow his entire deception.
Or, Dieter declare all innocent: “If you are not proven guilty in a court of law, you’re innocent.” (Green)
Dieter would call Hitler and Stalin innocent. Those are his “standards”.
And that is the credibility of the DPIC.
continue to next post for more fact checking material.
For more fact checking on the 129 “innocents” deception.
1. “Case Histories: A Review of 24 Individuals Released from Death Row”, Florida Commission on Capital Cases, 6/20/02, Revised 9/10/02 at http://www.floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/Publications/innocentsproject.pdf
83% error rate in “innocent” claims.
2. “Is ‘the innocence list’ an appropriate name?”, 1/19/03
FRANK GREEN, TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
http://www.stopcapitalpunishment.org/coverage/106.html
Dieter admits they don’t discern between legal innocence and actual innocence. One of Dieter’s funnier quotes;”The prosecutor, perhaps, or Dudley Sharp, perhaps, thinks they’re still guilty because there was evidence of their guilt, but that’s a subjective judgment.” Yep, “EVIDENCE OF GUILT”, can’t you see why Dieter would think they were innocent? And that’s how the DPIC works.
3. The Death of Innocents: A Reasonable Doubt,
New York Times Book Review, p 29, 1/23/05, Adam Liptak,
national legal correspondent for The NY Times
“To be sure, 30 or 40 categorically innocent people have been released from death row . . . “.
That is out of the DPIC claimed 119 “exonerated”, at that time, for a 75% error rate.
NOTE: It’s hard to understand how an absolute can have a differential of 33%. I suggest the “to be sure” is, now, closer to 25.
4. CRITIQUE OF DPIC LIST (“INNOCENCE:FREED FROM DEATH ROW”), Ward Campbell, http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/DPIC.htm
5. “The Death Penalty Debate in Illinois”, JJKinsella,6/2000, http://www.dcba.org/brief/junissue/2000/art010600.htm
6.THE DEATH PENALTY – ALL INNOCENCE ISSUES, Dudley Sharp
http://homicidesurvivors.com/2006/03/20/all-innocence-issues–the-death-penalty.aspx
Origins of “innocence” fraud, and review of many innocence issues
7. “Bad List”, Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review, 9/16/02
http://www.nationalreview.com/advance/advance091602.asp#title5
How bad is DPIC?
8. “Not so Innocent”, By Ramesh Ponnuru,National Review, 10/1/02
http://www.nationalreview.com/ponnuru/ponnuru100102.asp
DPIC from bad to worse.
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters
Althaough representatives, senators and journalists were sent this grotesque email, I would have liked b eing included,
if only to begin dialogue to the voices I represent/Donna
As we begin an era of restorative,
persons like you are very important. Human kindness is much easier than forgiveness. As we continue in dialogue and steadfast prayer, it is persons like you, Dudley, who, as your hearts open and the Divine within you becomes visible, will change
right in front of your own eyes.
This is merely the birth of humane action. in solidarity, Donna
As I read this post I thought, who is this person who makes no real comments on the issues. I found the following post on the Special Events Calendar for the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice. hmmmm…
Recent Addition!
Friday, August 8, 7:00pm
The subject of tonight’s IndyMedia TV / cable Channel 27 (Albuquerque) program is the death penalty and ending it. Donna Chamberlain, who’s son – Karl – was killed by the State of Texas on June 11 of this year, will be with us to speak about the loss of her son. Christy Armell founder of the Coalition to End the Death Penalty will also join us. Donna’s daughter Malika will also be with us to talk about the loss of her brother. Capitol X, an anti-death penalty Hip Hop artist will join us on the phone. So, join us by cable or on the web for this important show. Our call-in phone is 505-346-1633. Information: 505-304-3144.
And in my search I found an article on Karl Chamberlain’s execution. See below…
Karl Chamberlain
Karl Eugene Chamberlain, 37, was executed by lethal injection on 11 June 2008 in Huntsville, Texas for the rape and murder of a woman in her apartment.
On 2 August 1991, Chamberlain, then 21, went to the apartment of Felecia Prechtl, 30, bringing duct tape and a .30-caliber rifle with him. Chamberlain and Prechtl lived in the same apartment complex in Dallas. Chamberlain forced Prechtl into her bedroom and bound her hands and ankles with duct tape. After raping her, he shot her once in the head. He then left and returned to his own apartment.
A few minutes later, Prechtl’s brother discovered the victim’s body in her bathroom, with her jeans and underwear pulled down to her knees, and wearing no other clothing. Police found a roll of duct tape at the scene. Some fingerprints were taken from the duct tape, but no matches were found in the police department’s data base. Investigators also found sperm in the victim’s anal cavity. Chamberlain was questioned on the night of the murder, but he denied any knowledge of the crime and was not arrested.
The case remained unsolved for five years. In 1996, the fingerprints from the duct tape were checked again. One of the potential matches identified was Chamberlain, whose prints had been taken after an arrest for attempted robbery in Houston. Police arrested him on 17 July 1996. In a written confession, he stated that on the day of the murder, he went to Prechtl’s apartment to borrow sugar, and she was scantily dressed when she answered the door. He went back to his apartment with the sugar, but then decided to return. He claimed that he had consensual anal intercourse with the victim, but shot her after she threatened to tell his wife. Chamberlain also told police that the murder weapon could be found at his father’s house. DNA from a blood sample he gave at the time of his arrest was matched to the sperm sample taken from the victim’s body.
Chamberlain also had a conviction for theft as a 17-year-old juvenile.
A jury convicted Chamberlain of capital murder in June 1997 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in June 1999. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.
In an interview from death row the week before his execution, Chamberlain admitted his guilt and expressed regret over his actions. “My greatest regret is going down there and not killing myself,” he said. “I had kind of like a slip into delusion. It makes absolutely no sense … It was like I lost all control.” Nevertheless, Chamberlain said that prosecutors, his lawyers, and the jury should have paid more attention to the fact that in the five years following the murder, he managed to stay out of trouble.
Chamberlain’s execution was attended by Prechtl’s brother, son, and parents. The condemned killer looked at them directly, with a big smile on his face, as he spoke his last words: “I want you all to know I love you with all my heart. I want to thank you for being here … We are here to honor the life of Felecia Prechtl, a woman I didn’t even know, and celebrate my death. My death began on August 2, 1991, and continued when I began to see the beautiful and innocent life that I had taken. I am so terribly sorry. I wish I could die more than once.” Chamberlain continued speaking as the lethal injection was administered. “I love you. God have mercy on us all,” he said, still grinning. “Please do not hate anybody because …” He then lost consciousness. He was pronounced dead at 6:30 p.m.
Chamberlain’s execution was the first to take place in Texas since September 2007, when the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a Kentucky case challenging the constitutionality of lethal injection. The court upheld lethal injection in April, allowing executions in Texas and other states to resume. Chamberlain was the sixth prisoner executed in the United States since the court’s decision.
By David Carson. Posted on 12 June 2008.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Attorney General’s office, Associated Press, Houston Chronicle, Huntsville Item.
‘who is this person who makes no real comments on the issues”??? Patti, hear who I am. The voice of the thousands of human beings who have lost a loved one due to execution/murder by lethal injection, electric chair, hanging, firing squad or guillotine.
Any society whose rulers continue
to keep poverty, hunger and brutality as a way to oppress persons who are members of that society and then upon them impose judgement,imprisonment and execution for actions which evolve from the society causing poverty, brutality, lack of education and hunger, are in need of our voices calling now for genteel, restorative measures, supporting those too young to speak for themselves and speaking for those so abused they know of no other way of life, and speaking for those who have lost their voices. Facts and figures
have become a thing of the past, in the past and we are calling out for a Kind Present, a new now.
Into our hearts, without blood on our hands. aka Mu’ina
Dudley Sharp was described to me as a coward and bully in the schoolyard. I tend to listen and make no judgement. There is a new wind blowing away facts and and statistics from the past. Out west
they have a name for wind, and that name is Moriah. She is blowing Dudley and those who want to hold on to the past right off of this planet. The incoming wind, the incoming breath, is one of Human Kindness and a practicing
art of forgiveness and charity to the impoverished in this country and on this planet. aka Mu’ina
Ms. Chamberlain:
The writing is not grotesque. The murders were grotesque. You may have a differecne of opinion of my assessement, which I would be more than happy to review with you.
My email is all over the internet and all over this site. Had you wished to be on my email, you would have sent me yours, which you did not.
I am terribly sorry for your loss and your son’s grotesque actions.
I believe, as did he, that his punishment was just and appropriate for the rape and murder of Ms. Prechtl.
Donna:
“If Jesus elsewhere opposes capital punishment, then He is not only contradicting the Father but even His own words. “
“Typically, (the anti death penalty) view is that the harsh and mean God the Father of the Old Testament established execution, but the loving and kind God the Son of the New Testament abolished it.”
“I’m pretty sure such people don’t realize they’re denying the Trinity when they say this.”
“The doctrine of the Trinity affirms the eternal unity of all three persons of the Godhead, but such a fundamental disagreement between the Son and the Father would rupture this unity. In fact, if Jesus had contradicted any of the Father’s principles, let alone such a well-established one, that very disagreement would have immediately disproved His claims to be the divine Son.”
“This was exactly the heresy the Pharisees were hoping to trap Him into when they brought the woman caught in adultery to Jesus. Even His enemies knew that He absolutely had to affirm capital punishment in order to prove Himself not a false prophet. “
“How truly strange, then, that those who claim to love Him assert that He did exactly what His enemies failed to trick Him into doing! Far from opposing capital punishment, Jesus actually advocated it, as His unity with the Father required.”
“Matthew 5:17-18 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished.”
“Just a few verses later, He extends the prohibition against murder to hatred and condemns haters to “the hell of fire” in verse 22, which is very strange talk for someone who opposes capital punishment. It’s very hard to dismiss these verses because they occur smack in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, which is so often mistakenly offered as the repudiation of Old Testament justice.”
“Later, Jesus scolds the Pharisees and scribes for teaching leniency toward rebellious children by quoting the Old Testament, “For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’” (Matthew 15:4)”
“Subsequently, when the Romans come to arrest Jesus, Peter rather ineptly tries to defend Him by killing Malchus, but only succeeds in slicing off his ear. Jesus rebukes him with the warning, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.” Far from advocating pacifism, as this passage is often misused to do, Jesus here teaches Peter that using the sword (for murder) will only get the sword used against him (for execution).”
“Shortly thereafter, Jesus tells Pilate in John 19:11, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above…” This authority to put Jesus to death would be odd if it didn’t entail the general power to execute criminals.”
contd
Donna:
contd
“Finally, when He is dying of crucifixion, Jesus accepts the repentance of the thief on the cross, who says to his reviling companion, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds….” (Luke 23:40-41)”
“Had Jesus disagreed with this statement, responding to it with the promise of eternal salvation was a rather obtuse way to express the correction.”
“Beyond all this evidence that Jesus affirms the consistent Biblical principle of capital punishment, there is yet one more vital concept to grasp. Christians believe that Christ died on the cross to pay for the sins of us all.”
“Although His sinlessness merited eternal life, He endured the death we deserved to extend that gift to us. As Prof. Michael Pakaluk so perfectly expressed the point, “If no crime deserves the death penalty, then it is hard to see why it was fitting that Christ be put to death for our sins….” If we didn’t deserve the death penalty ourselves, then why would Christ need to suffer it on our behalf in order to satisfy the justice of God? Denying the death penalty directly assaults the justice of the Father, Who required His own Son to pay precisely that price in our stead.”
“What about the rest of the New Testament?”
“Since both Jesus’s teaching and His death affirm the capital punishment, it should come as no surprise that the rest of the New Testament reinforces this view.”
“When confronting Governor Festus, Paul says in Acts 25:11, “If I am a wrongdoer, and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of these things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. He both affirms capital statutes and accepts them as binding on him if he has broken one.”
“Later, in the New Testament’s most famous passage on the nature of government, Paul explains, “But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for [the government] does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil.” (Romans 13:4)”
“Finally, the same Bible which begins in Genesis 9:6 with the establishment of capital punishment, then carries the theme consistently throughout the text, and ends by reiterating it in Revelation 13:10, “If any one is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if any one kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”
“Literally from beginning to end, the Bible teaches that capital punishment is authorized and required by God.”
“Why I Support Capital Punishment”, by Andrew Tallman
sections 7-11 biblical review, sections 1-6 secular review
http://andrewtallmanshowarticles.blogspot.com/search?q=Capital+punishment
Ms. Chamberlain:
With regard to the death penalty, the oppresed are the innocent murder vicitms who were deminated and murdered by the more powerful and cruel murderers.
In additon, you commit a horrible moral reversal, you equate murder and execution, meaning you do not understand the moral differences between crime and punishment, the rape and murder of children and the execution of the rapist/murderer.
From an American Friends, Quaker, biblical scholar Dr. Gervas A. Carey:
Carey agrees with Saints Augustine and Aquinas, that executions represent mercy to the wrongdoer:
“. . . a secondary measure of the love of God may be said to appear. For capital punishment provides the murderer with incentive to repentance which the ordinary man does not have, that is a definite date on which he is to meet his God. It is as if God thus providentially granted him a special inducement to repentance out of consideration of the enormity of his crime . . . the law grants to the condemned an opportunity which he did not grant to his victim, the opportunity to prepare to meet his God. Even divine justice here may be said to be tempered with mercy.” (p. 116).
” . . . the decree of Genesis 9:5-6 is equally enduring and cannot be separated from the other pledges and instructions of its immediate context, Genesis 8:20-9:17; . . . that is true unless specific Biblical authority can be cited for the deletion, of which there appears to be none.”
“It seems strange that any opponents of capital punishment who professes to recognize the authority of the Bible either overlook or disregard the divine decree in this covenant with Noah; . . . capital punishment should be recognized . . . as the divinely instituted penalty for murder; The basis of this decree . . . is as enduring as God; . . . murder not only deprives a man of a portion of his earthly life . . . it is a further sin against him as a creature made in the image of God and against God Himself whose image the murderer does not respect.” (p. 111-113)”
synopsis of “A Bible Study”.from Essays on the Death Penalty, T. Robert Ingram, ed., St. Thomas Press, Houston, 1963, 1992. Dr. Carey was a Professor of Bible and past President of George Fox College.
Donna:
You should make a judgement on the person who told you that, if they did, they would be lying.
And I judge you for bringing it up, when you have no basis for its truth. You were simply in attack mode. Is that part of your charity?
Donna, my past was anti death penalty.
The impoverished and murderers are quite different. Likely more than 99.9% of the impoverished do not commit capital murder.
I acted in a Production of The Exonerated and did my research too. Look, have you even seen the play? The American Criminal Justice System is bunk, and I know that first hand for a wrongful conviction I was involved in, in which said “victim” testified against the state, in my favor, and I still went to jail. Sometimes I wonder how you advocates of the death penalty sleep at night. Wake up, this system sucks.
-Terry
Dear Terry:
Thank you for your comments.
If you have some facts contrary to what I reviewed, please let me know them as well as your sources and I will look into it. You will note in this section, as others, that is what I am looking for – facts – as opposed to rants. I hope you read through all of the comments within this section.
I haven’t seen the play but I have read it.
Sadly, I am wide awake when it comes to the US criminal justice system.
For example, it is most likely that 60,000 – 100,000 innocents have been murdered in the US since 1973, by those under the government supervision of parole or probation and early release programs.
Source: Prisons are a bargain by any measure
http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/1996/0116crime_john-j–diiulio–jr.aspx
I am a former anti death penalty person who, is now, never surprised at the degree of deception that the anti death penalty movment will stoop to.
Some examples:
Innocence
http://homicidesurvivors.com/2009/07/05/the-death-penalty-more-protection-for-innocents.aspx
The false innocence claims by anti death penalty activists are legendary. Some examples:
http://homicidesurvivors.com/2009/10/08/the-innocent-executed-deception–death-penalty-opponents–draft.aspx
3) The 130 (now 139) death row “innocents” scam
http://homicidesurvivors.com/2009/03/04/fact-checking-issues-on-innocence-and-the-death-penalty.aspx
4) “The Exonerated: Are Any Actually Innocent?”
http://homicidesurvivors.com/2006/08/21/the-exonerated-are-any-actually-innocent—new-mexico.aspx
5) Sister Helen Prejean & the death penalty: A Critical Review”
http://homicidesurvivors.com/2009/05/04/sister-helen-prejean–the-death-penalty-a-critical-review.aspx
6) “At the Death House Door” Can Rev. Carroll Pickett be trusted?”
http://homicidesurvivors.com/2009/01/30/fact-checking-is-very-welcome.aspx
7) “Cameron Todd Willingham: Another Media Meltdown”, A Collection of Articles
http://homicidesurvivors.com/categories/Cameron%20Todd%20Willingham.aspx
8) “A Death Penalty Red Herring: The Inanity and Hypocrisy of Perfection”, Lester Jackson Ph.D.,
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=102909A
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thanks for this nice post 111213
While the Judge did in fact make that ruling, Mr, Sharp, what you are unaware of, and your source you cite for your information – – David Dobbs@DavidDobbs.com – – won’t tell you, is that I was framed by prosecutorial misconduct. Read the Houston Chronicle, Justice Under Fire (June 11th, 2000) for a more accurate portrayal of the truth of my long journey for justice against David Dobbs, Jack Skeen and Smith County.
You will find that after exhaustive research, Evan Moore of the Houston Chronicle finds Smith County had a “Win at all cost” mentality and would stop at nothing to make me appear responsible for a rape and murder of a young girl I didn’t commit.
David Dobbs sued the Houston Chronicle. What Dobbs won’t tell you either is that David Dobbs and Jack Skeen lost 9-O that the article was factual and supported by evidence…..
You wrote this article?
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