tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5651032.post113714080201964873..comments2024-03-18T07:55:19.196-07:00Comments on Public Defender Dude: Virginia man actually was guiltyPD Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06067582064163477160noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5651032.post-1137624116314934342006-01-18T14:41:00.000-08:002006-01-18T14:41:00.000-08:00Damn, that was well written, Dennis. Great perspe...Damn, that was well written, Dennis. Great perspective.PD Dudehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06067582064163477160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5651032.post-1137621919370807032006-01-18T14:05:00.000-08:002006-01-18T14:05:00.000-08:00I like the way you discussed the Coleman case. I ...I like the way you discussed the Coleman case. I was upset, sad to say. I didn't know Mr. Coleman, or the victim for that matter. But I want the death penalty to leave us - I believe that we need to have an enlightened society that does not put its citizens to death.<BR/><BR/>Then I realized that I had made Mr. Coleman a symbol, which is just as bad. I was rooting for him being innocent, despite the fact that he had been executed. Upon reflection, this is not the side I ought to be on.<BR/><BR/>What I think Colemen ought to teach us is how wrong it was for the system to fight so hard from allowing the DNA test. Colemen died in 1992. Why, for God's sake, should it take 13 years to test the DNA? Why should the state try so hard to destroy the evidence? Virginia fought like hell to destroy that evidence. Why? Because they were concerned that they had made a mistake, and that he really was innocent. That is what I am against - the power of the state ruthlessly suppressing the truth in the interest of protecting those in power. That is corruption of the worst kind.<BR/><BR/>When a defendant runs after a crime has been committed, prosecutors argue that the running is evidence of flight - evidence that the defendant committed the crime. And well they should. We should also impart such foul notions on the states and the federal government, when they apply. Why else should or would the government attempt to hide the truth, except when they have something to lose from the truth coming out.<BR/><BR/>If our government is continually afraid of the truth then our government is not fit to hold the mantle of democracy, and is not fit to punish those it claims have committed crimes. This axiom applies to Guantanamo and Iraq just as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5651032.post-1137290087519953002006-01-14T17:54:00.000-08:002006-01-14T17:54:00.000-08:00Just on gut, I was always a little wary about Cole...Just on gut, I was always a little wary about Coleman's claims of innocence. There was always something very detached and odd about his protestations. Also, do you think that Coleman's claims would have gone as far if raised by an African American?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5651032.post-1137163942016520542006-01-13T06:52:00.000-08:002006-01-13T06:52:00.000-08:00It's hard to see how this isn't a setback for deat...It's hard to see how this isn't a setback for death penalty opponents -- for exactly the reason you cite: It suggests that the death penalty is a form of justice. This gives comfort to DP supporters b/c it shows the state executed the "right" person. But it also gives DP supporters ammunition; every time someone on death row claims to be innocent, DP supporters can just say "Everybody on death row says they're innocent. Just look at Roger Coleman!" A high profile case showing that "justice was done" (as if that's possible when the state commits murder) is exactly what death penalty opponents did *not* need right now.ambimbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16589172896173356360noreply@blogger.com