Murder by perjury? - Democratic Underground

Catherine Vincent

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Sun Dec-04-05 07:39 PM
Original message

Murder by perjury?

'Murder by perjury' in Cantu case?
By RICK CASEY
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

First, at the age of 19, he was shot nine times and left for dead in a 1984 robbery in San Antonio. A companion of Moreno was shot to death during the robbery.

Then, Moreno says, he was pressured by police into identifying the wrong man after repeatedly saying it wasn't him. That man, Ruben Cantu, was executed based on Moreno's testimony in a 1985 trial.

Now Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed says if her investigation supports Moreno's contention that the wrong man was executed, she may file charges against him.

For perjury? No. The three-year statute of limitations ran out a long time ago. For the murder of Ruben Cantu. Murder has no statute of limitations.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/casey/3501088.html

So if it's ever proven that an innocent person was executed, the prosecutors would look for someone to blame instead of doing away with the death penalty altogether?

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The Traveler

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Sun Dec-04-05 08:42 PM
Response to Original message

1. Twisted, isn't it.?

I myself have no problem with the death penalty, conceptually. However, it seems to me that its application requires a standard of evidence that is extraordinarily high and the process by which it is gathered demonstrably meticulous and scrupulous. Why, I wonder, was this fellow so pressured to bear false witness? How many other innocent people have been put to death by a system that in so many cases seems to have abandoned principles of honest, equity, and justice?

The problem with the death penality is that, once a mistake is made, it cannot be repaired.

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Spinzonner

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Sun Dec-04-05 08:56 PM
Response to Reply #1

2. For a start, no one should ever be given a death sentence

when convicted based upon testimony of a jailhouse snitch

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The Traveler

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Sun Dec-04-05 09:32 PM
Response to Reply #2

3. That would be a good starting point, but

how about those assholes who never processed evidence? You know ... they billed the government and wrote up fabricated lab reports. I guess I'm saying I don't have a philosophical problem with the death penalty, but I have a lot of problems with the system that implements it.

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