Death Penalty (or lack thereof) in California

[fan_since79]

Ricardo Rene Sanders was sentenced to death in 1982.

Thirty-six years ago. He's still having his appeals heard. The latest one was rejected last October. There's something terribly wrong here.

He gunned down four people who were herded into a walk-in freezer at a Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Los Angeles in 1980. Several others were seriously wounded.

How many more years/decades will it take before justice is done? 

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bobsbigboy-killer-court-20171013-story.html

Edited March 3, 2018 by fan_since79

[UndertheHalo]

Sounds like some question about a witness lying or perhaps a dishonest prosecutor.  I don’t know much about the case in particular.  I don’t feel very strongly about capital punishment.  I probably lean against . Tho, I’m not particularly troubled by the idea of it.  I will say tho.  I’m not really bothered by long drawn out appeals.  If a guy is going to be executed.  It should take as long as is needed to be as certain as possible.  Over zealous prosecutors are not unheard of.  It’s not like this dude is hanging out at his house.  He’s doing hard time.  

Awful, awful story tho. 

Edited March 3, 2018 by UndertheHalo

[Stradling]

Well 36 years is certainly too long.  I would think ten years is far too long. 

[wopphil]

It is stories like this that make me think no matter how much I despise today's Republican party, the brain dead left is just as bad.

[Tank]

i remember when that bob's big boy slaughter happened. what an absolute nightmare of brutality. justice has been way too long delayed on this clown.

[Rico]

In some ways, spending life in prison is justice.  Make him live with his mistakes.

[floplag]

4 hours ago, Rico said:

In some ways, spending life in prison is justice.  Make him live with his mistakes.

You assume he has a conscience and cares.  He was sentenced in accordance with the rule of law and has abused it for decades.  This is why noone fears the penalty, its never enforced. 

[Jason]

I'm sort of indifferent to the death penalty. I really don't care if they keep it or abolish it. If they keep it then they need to follow through quickly and not all these BS appeals that are just wasting taxpayer dollars. Then again, wasting taxpayer dollars is probably part of California's mission statement. 

[fan_since79]

Facts of the Crime:

On December 14, 1980, Sanders and a companion broke into a Bob's Big Boy restaurant at gunpoint and took $1,300 from the safe. Sanders then told the employees and customers, "You're going to get hurt," and ordered them to the freezer room, where other employees were already gathered, the court said.

After taking money and jewelry from them, the gunmen ordered them to face the wall as they prayed and pleaded. The two men emptied their shotguns into the backs of most of the nine employees and two customers, the court said. One waitress, Evelyn Jackson, suffered permanent brain damage.

Customer David Burrell, waitress Dita Agtani and cashier Ahmad Mushuk were dead at the scene, and busboy Cesario Luna died of his wounds several months later. Jackson, another employee and a customer were seriously wounded.

Sanders was arrested eight days later. One witness, who worked at the restaurant, told police Sanders had approached him in September 1980, and talked about a robbery.

Franklin Freeman Jr. was convicted of the murders in a separate trial and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Carletha Stewart, charged with taking part in the planning, pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life.

Sanders was sentenced to death in Los Angeles County on December 3, 1982.
 

[gotbeer]

Proposition 47 and Proposition 57.  

Of course this state is soft on crime.  

In Texas and even Florida that SOB would have been John Coffey 30 years ago.

[Adam]

It isn't worth having a death penalty if this is the process. Plus it requires 100% accuracy to be just. 

[UndertheHalo]

On 3/4/2018 at 8:13 AM, gotbeer said:

Proposition 47 and Proposition 57.  

Of course this state is soft on crime.  

In Texas and even Florida that SOB would have been John Coffey 30 years ago.

Soft on crime ? We put so many people in prison that the jails literally can’t hold them.  

[red321]

16 hours ago, Adam said:

It isn't worth having a death penalty if this is the process. Plus it requires 100% accuracy to be just. 

Exactly...I have issues with the idea of state sanctioned killing...but my primary issues with the dealth penalty are you cannot guarantee 100% accuracy and statistically poor and minorities are much more likely to get the death penalty as compared to whites or a higher income defendant (who can afford a better attorney).

[Adam]

10 minutes ago, red321 said:

Exactly...I have issues with the idea of state sanctioned killing...but my primary issues with the dealth penalty are you cannot guarantee 100% accuracy and statistically poor and minorities are much more likely to get the death penalty as compared to whites or a higher income defendant (who can afford a better attorney).

This is actually one of the WTF issues I see. How is this not the viewpoint of 99.9% of Americans?

[RallyMo]

3 hours ago, red321 said:

Exactly...I have issues with the idea of state sanctioned killing...but my primary issues with the dealth penalty are you cannot guarantee 100% accuracy and statistically poor and minorities are much more likely to get the death penalty as compared to whites or a higher income defendant (who can afford a better attorney).

 

3 hours ago, Adam said:

This is actually one of the WTF issues I see. How is this not the viewpoint of 99.9% of Americans?

Yep.

The death penalty needs to not be a thing given the fact that we'll never have 100% certainty.

[Lou]

40 minutes ago, RallyMo said:

 

Yep.

The death penalty needs to not be a thing given the fact that we'll never have 100% certainty.

Never? 

[Lou]

Since 1976, more white defendants have been executed than all other races combined. 

[Adam]

Good. Kill Whitey

[Rico]

Well yeah, there are a lot more white people.

African Americans make up 12.6% of the us population, but are 34.5% of all people executed during the same period.  Also the current death row population is equal between black and whites.

[RallyMo]

1 hour ago, Lou said:

Never? 

Yes, Louftime: never.

[InsideThePark]

Louftime lol

[the dude abides]

Toda la vida!

[Make Angels Great Again]

59 minutes ago, Rico said:

Well yeah, there are a lot more white people.

African Americans make up 12.6% of the us population, but are 34.5% of all people executed during the same period.  Also the current death row population is equal between black and whites.

 

Cool.

Blacks should stop killing people at such abnormal rates.

[Rico]

Are they though?  Or are they simply more likely to be sentenced to death for the same crime simply because they are black?

If Brock Turner were a black kid he would still be in jail right now.

[Make Angels Great Again]

8 minutes ago, Rico said:

Are they though?  Or are they simply more likely to be sentenced to death for the same crime simply because they are black?

If Brock Turner were a black kid he would still be in jail right now.

Yes. Blacks commit murder at almost 6 times the rate of whites. In terms of murders committed between blacks and whites it's almost completely equal.

Source here: https://infogram.com/us-crime-in-black-and-white-1gzxop49q0okmwy

The biggest contributor to this is I believe the rate of single motherhood in the black community.