John William King to Be Executed Today

[j_dog]

On 4/26/2019 at 6:33 AM, Kountzer said:

Many times I've tried to explain to people not from the area, or state, that Jasper is not that bad a town. If something like that could and did happen in Jasper, it could happen anywhere.

At the time the dragging news came out, I was working with a black lady in San Antonio.  She grew up in the Orange area, but her father grew up in Jasper.  She said they regularly went back to Jasper for their family reunions.  She said clearly there were communities in Southeast Texas where blacks had to be on guard, but that Jasper was by no means on that list.  Furthermore, she said that if she had been told to pick the LEAST likely place for something like that to happen she would have picked Jasper.  For whatever that is worth, that was her take.

[j_dog]

On 4/26/2019 at 0:53 PM, baddog said:

I say give them two years to appeal, then swiftly execute them. This would create more of a deterrent. Then we could have gurney trains picking them up by the dozens with someone dressed as The Grim Reaper on the lead gurney.

The only caveat that I have is "What if they are in fact innocent of the crime".  Sadly there are documented cases where this was the truth.  But King was clearly guilty beyond any reasonable doubt.  They had his DNA placing him on the scene.  

[baddog]

2 hours ago, j_dog said:

The only caveat that I have is "What if they are in fact innocent of the crime".  Sadly there are documented cases where this was the truth.  But King was clearly guilty beyond any reasonable doubt.  They had his DNA placing him on the scene.  

I think with DNA evidence, we have gotten away from executing innocent people. However, nothing is infallible. Without DNA, we shouldn’t seek the death penalty. Eye witness testimony is unreliable.

Most appeals concern representation issues and mental capacity; things that could convert the death penalty sentence to life, not necessarily for overturning the guilty verdict. Two years should be plenty. 

Lastly, I don’t believe that the appeals process is about assuring that justice has been served, as it is about lawyer’s games and egos.

[CardinalBacker]

I'm opposed to the death penalty, but if there was ever anybody that deserved it, this guy did.