Justice Allayed

Recently, I posted about a local case, and a man who was sentenced to death. Recently, another man has been accused of the crime by those close to that recently accused person. DNA evidence has been called for. I recounted some of the details of this case recently, in a post against capital punishment.

The prosecutors and judge are very reluctant to call off that scheduled execution. It's human nature, I suppose, to defend yourself when it seems you've been wrong. When a life is at stake, though, it would seem you'd be very cautious. Seems isn't what always occurs, though.

The execution of Lester Bower has been stayed. Judge Jim Fallon has withdrawn the death warrant, while lawyers argue whether DNA testing of the evidence is just.

District Attorney Joe Brown says this does not mean Bower will not be executed. If the judge denies the DNA request, or if DNA testing is done and nothing new is found, then the execution will most likely be re-scheduled.

On October 8, 1983, four men were shot to death at an ultra light airplane hangar East of Sherman.

Lester Bower, who was living in Arlington, was convicted on four counts of capital murder. Reports show authorities said bower killed the men after they showed up at the hangar, while Bower was attempting to steal an ultra light.

Now 60 years-old, Bower has been on death row since 1984. Until Tuesday, his execution date was set for July 22, 2008. Bower's attorneys have requested DNA testing of the evidence, a move District Attorney Joe Brown says might have been done to delay Bower's execution.

"This is the kind of tactics you get from east coast law firms that come in on these death penalty cases." "It's been long enough. These families have wanted long enough, and this kind of motion is something that could have been filed long ago when DNA testing was first available."

Brown says it couldn't have come at a worse time for the victims' families. "One of them greeted us with tears. They are sad and frustrating and we tell them we're going to keep working on it and move as quickly as we can."

According to the Grayson County website, a hearing is scheduled for July 17th to determine if DNA testing will be done on the evidence. (Emphasis added.)

Calling up prejudices against the effete intellectual (to quote Spiro Agnew) east coast indicates to me that some one is on the defensive, who ought to be fully engaged in the administration of justice.

Incidentally, right wing religious groups were heavily involved in the election of DA Brown, who defeated a very good former DA who was a Democrat of liberal bent. Brown supposedly is a pro-lifer, maybe lifer has a different meaning to him.

I am impressed that DA Brown is an avowed winger evangelical, and so determined that death should be administered because of his opinion, not evidence. In Dallas, the recently elected liberal District Attorney, Craig Watkins, is breaking ground that everyone can admire in opening evidence files to investigation, and massively overturning unjust sentences.

As Diane posted earlier, the Declaration of Independence called for ending the domination of England for many reasons, among them the maladministration of justice.

The death penalty should never be administered without the full investigation of the crime. This is another case that argues against the use of capital punishment at all, in a system so flawed, by elected officials.