Posted on 04/25/2007 9:57:29 PM PDT by zendari
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court threw out death sentences for three Texas killers Wednesday because of problems with instructions given jurors who were deciding between life in prison and death.
In the case of LaRoyce Lathair Smith, the court set aside the death penalty for the second time. It also reversed death sentences for Brent Ray Brewer and Jalil Abdul-Kabir.
The cases all stem from jury instructions that Texas hasn't used since 1991. Under those rules, courts have found that jurors were not allowed to give sufficient weight to factors that might cause them to impose a life sentence instead of death.
The three 5-4 rulings had the same lineup of justices, with Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter and John Paul Stevens forming the majority.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
On the positive side, the 2 new justices are proving to be exceptional.
Why did 41 nominate Empty Souter?
I hope that p.o.s. Kennedy retires soon. Real soon.
Somethings just stay the same. “We hate the death penalty so we found a small glitch that allows us to keep these killers alive.”
"Texas courts had turned down LaRoyce Lathair Smith's appeal of his sentence for the 1991 killing of a Taco Bell manager during a robbery attempt in Dallas. The victim, Jennifer Soto, 19, was pistol-whipped, shot and stabbed with a butcher knife."
"Brent Ray Brewer was convicted of murder and sentenced to death for the stabbing slaying of a man who had given Brewer and a companion a ride in his truck; the crime produced $140, taken from the dead man's wallet."
"Jalil Abdul-Kabir, formerly known as Ted Calvin Cole, was convicted of murder and sentenced to death for the strangling slaying of a 60-year-old man during a robbery -- a crime that netted Cole and others only $20."
Justice Kennedy is pro-abort to the core. He was in a bind, on this last ruling, because there were other abortion options than partial-birth thus it wasn't stopping the Faux "Constitution" the courts had created. He was faced with a grisly procedure and balked. I think his pro-abort friends would gladly do an IMUS on him if they could.
Because 41 had no spine, no stomach for a fight, no conviction to core principles, but most importantly, no ability to take a fight directly to his oppponents.
Hmmm. Sounds familiar.
They have been together too long, and Kennedy's ego trip is just going to get out of control. But while I am annoyed by the dynamics, I must point out how much worse things could have been. Just imagine the make up of the court if Kerry had won. 6 lefties, 1 squish, and 2 conservatives. All hope would be lost for our judiciary.
In light of that perspective, things don't seem too bad. The other positive note is that all 4 on the left are old and getting older. In stark contrast to 3 conservatives in their 50s. If Bush gets to replace any single justice on the left, he (or she) will certainly be an improvement. Even if it is a squish like Kennedy, we will be better off. The 4 souls completely sold over to Satan himself must be broken up.
Agreed. Every one in a while they present a shocker. I mean, how about the 9-0 to rule in favor of free speech in the Washington State case. Sometimes, but rarely, they get it right.
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