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Posted: 1:55 PM May 25, 2010
Biela Trial: Day 12 Blog
Notes from Day 12 of the trial
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Posted by: Guest
Location: California
on May 27, 2010 at 08:48 AM
To the poster below, you are absolutely correct in that "special circumstances" can turn a 2nd degree murder into a crime eligible for the death penalty, but only in those states that provide statutorily for that approach. My home state (California) is a state where "special circumstances" can be used to make a 2nd degree murderer eligible for the death penalty. Rightly or wrongly, the state of Nevada does not have such a statutory scheme. In Nevada, to be eligible for the death penalty, a defendant must be convicted of 1st degree murder AND at least 1 of 15 possible aggravating circumstances. For reference, please see NRS 200.030, 200.033 and 200.035.
Posted by: guest
Location: reno
on May 26, 2010 at 05:53 PM
Great coverage. Just want to clarify one thing for some and maybe the paper should also clarify this. The capital (death penalty) is usually also because of 'special circumstances, not just because of 1st degree murder or intent. The special circumstances are the other felonies involved in the crime, including kidnapping, rape and other charges. Thank you.
Posted by: Guest
Location: California
on May 26, 2010 at 03:47 PM
Couldn't disagree with you more. Just as much as a civilized society needs strong, ethical prosecutors and law enforcement it also needs--perhaps more so--a strong defense bar and protections for the accused. Its easy in a case like this to want to do away with those protections. However, you must not understand the all too frequent occurrence of wrongful convictions. Just open a paper or do a google search--law enforcement, prosecutors and juries get it wrong sometimes. In Illinois, the aforementioned got it wrong so many times that the Governor put a moratorium on the death penalty. A strong defense bar keeps us all safe--from the criminals and from those in government who seem to think the constitution is a technacality. You should move to Iran--they have a "justice" system that mirrors your approach.
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