Comments on: No cowards here

By: Douglas P

Douglas P — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 02:53:17 +0000

By Douglas P on 11.02.07 5:35 pm
By KH on 11.02.07 9:22 pm
Did not see the W5 item, but my short answer is no. Newspaper quotes of Smith’s current lawyer suggest he did not receive consular advice he was entitled to at the time and claims his original lawyer was less than capable (I don’t know if this is factual). His partner in crime received a 60 year sentence and is already out. I don’t know the strength of the evidence, but I do remember that in a Canadian case,Steven Truscott was so browbeaten by the police that he confessed to a crime he did not commit and the conviction was much later overturned. I was a proponent of the death penalty until about 10 years ago – have seen too many cases as mentioned in my earlier submission to be comfortable with it any more. Lock the person up for life if you wish, at least that way he/she is still around if the conviction is later overturned.

By: KH

KH — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 01:22:41 +0000

Douglas, would this man’s confession on W5 mean anything to you

By: Douglas P

Douglas P — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 21:35:20 +0000

By Leasa on 11.02.07 12:20 pm – and others who cheer the death penalty – in this country we have numerous examples of wrongfully convicted persons (Milgaard, Marxhall, Morin, Truscott and Driskell to name a very few of the many). Some have even been executed (Wilbert Coffin in 1956 currently under Department of Justice review). Do you seriously think similar miscarriages of justice don’t happen in the USA ? Would you like to be the ones who have to go to the survivors of a wrongfully convicted and executed person, to tell them their relative had to be sacrificed to the greater glory of Bush and Harper ?