Posted on 10/30/2013 10:31:02 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
Video at link.
He shore has a purdy mouf...
He was probably an Obama voter - or would have been given the chance. I have no sympathy. hang him high and hang him soon!
Interesting that at the end, the news anchor tells the audience that the murderer’s brother is also a convicted murderer.
I’d be very interested to know the history on this family to see if they had any kids that aren’t in jail or awaiting trial.
Interesting that his brother, Lonnie Webster (who had the moniker Bonafide Hustler tattooed to his forehead) was found guilty of murdering Rob Pursley in 2006.
Wondering how many more siblings Tyrelle and Lonnie have out there waiting to murder innocent people?
Beat me to the murdering siblings question by 6 minutes ;)
Rarely do I beat anyone so I’m excited!
and the next generation is in your local schools. Uneducated, disrespectful and uncaring.....all because of the we be owed attitude.
Yes, the guy is a scumbag and if he did it deserves everything he gets. That said, do we welcome appeals to emotion in campaigns and in the creation of legislation? Then why should it be different in the courtroom? Unless the victims’ relatives’ testimony provides relevant facts to convict the person on trial, why are they given time in court to basically “tell off” the defendant?
Victim impact statements have been around for.. forever. I agree with your logic however they are used after the trial, prior to sentencing so they do not affect the verdict.
Victim statements are done after the conviction, during sentencing. Sentencing is based in the nature and impact of the crime, which the victims have the best idea of.
At the end of the video, the info babe said that the guy’s brother is also in prison for murder.......nice family
This is why I don’t like “victim impact statements”. Justice is supposed to be blind and sentencing is supposed to be based on the crime itself, not IMO on the popularity of the victim.
I’ve proposed this scenario before.
Say there is an attractive 35 year old, a popular school teacher who is married with several kids and who came from a close family with lots of brothers and sisters and parents and grandparents who are still living; she belongs to a church, has a large circle of friends, volunteers for numerous charities. Late one evening she stops by an ATM and is robbed, raped and brutally murdered.
On the other hand you have a 35 year old woman who also works as a school teacher but she’s not very well-liked, kind of frumpy, she’s never been married, has no children, no immediate family, she was an only child and both her parents died years ago, she has a cousin somewhere on the other side of the country who she hasn’t seen or spoken to since she was a child, she doesn’t have any close friends, she’s shy and socially awkward and keeps to herself. Late one evening she stops by an ATM and is robbed, raped and brutally murdered.
Let’s say there are different perps but otherwise the crime and the criminal history of the perps are identical. In both cases, the murderer is caught, tried and convicted.
In the first case there are literally hundreds of people who want to make victim impact statements at sentencing. They tearfully describe what a wonderful woman she was and how her murder impacted them personally.
In the second case, no one who knew her even showed up for the trial and no one steps forward to make a victim impact statement.
… they are used after the trial, prior to sentencing so they do not affect the verdict.
Victim statements are done after the conviction, during sentencing. Sentencing is based in the nature and impact of the crime, which the victims have the best idea of.
Is the loss of the first woman’s life any more tragic than the loss of the second woman’s? Is the crime committed in the first case any different than the crime in the first case? Should the the perp in the first case get a stiffer sentence than the perp in the second because the judge is influenced by or by the lack of victim impact statements?
To the extent that victim impact statements are useful, this one ought to be shown in every high school in the country. Kids who see it might think twice about killing someone. The woman’s voice in the statement is perfect, and ought to haunt the convict for the rest of his life.
I understand the logic of your point. In a perfect system with perfect laws and perfect judges that might work. In fact, in your scenario, the law wouldn’t allow for any difference in sentencing at all. The punishment would be set and completely out of the hands of the judge. That’s as blind as you can get.
“The law is blind” is a bad idea. The law should be impartial, not blind. Victim statements were introduced because there was a problem with judges who only saw the humanity of the perpetrator. The unfortunate young football star with his whole life ahead of him and an otherwise clean record, not the shattered life of the 15 year old girl who had been raped on the hood of a car in front of a cheering crowd.
Its a needed balance. The perp is allowed to make an emotional appeal to the judge for a lesser sentence, so as long as you are keeping that, then its only right to keep the victim statement.
I don’t want a sterile law system and I don’t want judges to forget why it is that we put people in prison.
Victim impact statements will be done away with when someone uses it as the opportunity to stand up in open court and say that the deceased was a miserable son of a bitch who needed killing and the convict should get a medal instead of a sentence.
Thank you. I was concerned I was going to be flamed but your argument and loner victim example is excellent.
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