Comments on: Gary DeToma Sr. To Face Death Penalty

By: "Naaman" Gibbets

"Naaman" Gibbets — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:20:59 +0000

Right, it costs much more to put someone to death than to keep them in prison for the rest of their life. Plus every morning they get to wake up, look around, and lividly remember why they are where they are.

By: "Naaman" Gibbets

"Naaman" Gibbets — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:17:46 +0000

Bingo! MrFixit, a little hometown justice is in order here.

By: DEM

DEM — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:44:07 +0000

Alas, it may cost more of those dollars to end his life than to sustain it. Insanity may be his only hope for an acquittal, but at the setencing phase, they can trot out endless experts — likely at taxpayer expense — to tell the jury his mother was mean to him, his IQ is low, he had a difficult childhood, or anything else one can think of along those lines. And even if sentenced to death, we’ll have years of appeals, most focusing on how his trial lawyer could have done a better job.

By: cubalibre

cubalibre — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:52:10 +0000

Since the death penalty is the worst, most final punishment society has, it ought to be reserved for the worst of the wors– but only in those cases cases where it’s known beyond a reasonable doubt who did it, and that the perp did it for no other reason than that s/he had a depraved heart/mind. Unless Detoma’s lawyers establish that he was insane at the time he committed the crime, I’d say he fits these narrow parameters pretty much perfectly. While I can’t say I’m across-the-board in favor of the death penalty, there are some people I’d rather my tax dollars didn’t go to help keep them alive.

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:51:43 +0000

I’m not certain but I recall hearing that in order to pursue life without parole the death penalty must be sought. It’s one of the many quirks of the justice system (if I’m recalling correctly).