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Death Sentence Vacated

By TChris, Section Death Penalty
Posted on Fri Apr 22, 2005 at 11:25:26 AM EST
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by TChris

Richard Boyde will receive a new sentencing hearing as the result of a Ninth Circuit decision yesterday. Boyde had been sentenced to death. The court of appeals concluded that his lawyer failed to provide effective assistance when he compared Boyde to Charles Manson, a comparison that probably didn't endear Boyde to the jurors.

The court said the defense lawyer also failed to present evidence that Boyde was repeatedly and severely beaten and whipped by both his mother and his stepfather and that his stepsisters were sexually abused.

More on the case here. The court's decision is here (pdf).

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    Death Sentence Vacated | 1 comment (1 topical)
    Re: Death Sentence Vacated (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Apr 22, 2005 at 11:34:20 PM EST
    In Confucian society killing a parent was punished by death.The killer had no place in the human world. However, it was also taken for granted that most of the victims were monsters. One famous judgment on patricide said something like- If a pot boils you know it has been on a fire. You don't need to see the fire. Applied to this case,judge and jurors wouldn't need to be told about any abuse. They would assume that things had happened pretty much as they did. So far their view of the world approximates reality . However it wouldn't matter. It would have no effect on the sentence. I don't know why I bring this up except that somehow I just can't work my mind round it. Are odds-on accurate assumptions about human society most tolerable in situations where they don't really matter?

    Death Sentence Vacated | 1 comment (1 topical)