General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe state of Arkansas murdered a man.
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Tests reveal DNA evidence in executed Arkansas inmate's case
https://katv.com/amp/news/local/tests-reveal-dna-evidence-in-executed-arkansas-inmates-case?__twitter_impression=true
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Innocence Project on Friday released summaries of the testing of evidence from the 1993 murder of Debra Reese. Ledell Lee, who was convicted of her murder, was one of four inmates executed by Arkansas in 2017.
The city of Jacksonville last year agreed to allow new tests on fingerprints and DNA evidence after the groups had sued. Lee was the first of four inmates Arkansas executed in April 2017 before its supply of a lethal injection drug expired.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)been loathe to allow investigations because they prefer not to know for sure.
AZLD4Candidate
(5,639 posts)They move up the food chain on conviction percentage, not truth finding.
USAFRetired_Liberal
(4,167 posts)For one, I dont think its proportionally applied to all races that have committed similar offenses....and two if we arent 100% certain that we have the right guy then no one should be put to death....I dont care if you have 100 people and 99 are truly guilty and only one is innocent, if 99 get to stay alive so that the 1 lives then thats how it should be
tymorial
(3,433 posts)USAFRetired_Liberal
(4,167 posts)You would think that the pro life and all lives matter crowd would understand this
Probatim
(2,499 posts)They are only pro life when it comes to wedge issues and riling up their base. Kids are starving or living in the street - tough shit is what you'll hear.
See an opportunity to dump on minorities and filthy liberals and your lives don't matter much to them.
Point out their hypocrisy to them and you'll probably get punched.
USAFRetired_Liberal
(4,167 posts)I was being sarcastic with my post
Probatim
(2,499 posts)walkingman
(7,577 posts)they never admit they made a mistake. It really doesn't matter the issue, even someone's life - or lives when it come to war.
spanone
(135,777 posts)State sanctioned murder is no different than any other murder.
Ms. Toad
(33,989 posts)Or they couldn't use it anymore.
spanone
(135,777 posts)USAFRetired_Liberal
(4,167 posts)I dont even know why he was convicted in the first place....seems like the prosecution had no evidence other than someone saying that they saw him near the victims house...like WTF, thats all the evidence and this person not only gets convicted, but gets the death penalty
FBaggins
(26,714 posts)Her blood was found on his shoes and he passed a $100 bill stolen from her wallet just hours after the murder. He hadn't just been seen near the victim's house... he was seen coming out of the house and reported by other women in the neighborhood as knocking on their door and asking if their husband was home so he could borrow a tool. An M.O. that fit at least one prior rape conviction. His DNA was also connected with a second homicide and two additional rapes
There's significantly more reason to believe that he was the murderer than to believe otherwise. The question that the new data forces is whether there was enough reason to support an execution... not whether he might be some entirely innocent citizen merely caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
USAFRetired_Liberal
(4,167 posts)What I googled and what the search came up with was stuff that really vague (even Wikipedia didnt say much; it did mention the other rapes though)....I knew it had to be more than what I was reading/finding...the more I see now, the more it looks like he probably did it, but agree that this new evidence doesnt support an execution
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)WhiskeyGrinder
(22,304 posts)RegularJam
(914 posts)I'm talking about my beliefs outside of legal construct. Lets change legal construct.
NNadir
(33,455 posts)Asking for a friend.
FBaggins
(26,714 posts)At least, this doesn't come close to demonstrating that they did.
Some unknown male's DNA was found on the murder weapon. There was also some that was "not inconsistent" with Lee.
There was plenty of other evidence pointing to Lee as the murderer (and likely serial murderer and rapist). He wasn't just identified as leaving the house, the victim's blood was on his shoes and he spent cash that had been stolen from her wallet. The M.O. of knocking on the door and asking if the husband is home so he could borrow a tool matched what three rape victims (one resulting in his conviction) reported.
There is enough to question whether the state's death penalty and execution practices satisfy an appropriate "due process", but nothing close to enough to call his execution a murder.
Elessar Zappa
(13,894 posts)ALL executions murder. They may not be "legally" wrong but it's barbaric that a developed country still kills people. Thank God I live in a state where the death penalty is banned. I think Biden will try and get rid of the federal death penalty too.
spanone
(135,777 posts)stillcool
(32,626 posts)How can that be?
Ledell Lee Archives - Arkansas Times
https://arktimes.com/tag/ledell-lee
Ledell Lee Never Had A Chance
He was the first man executed by Arkansas in
nearly 12 years. Jurors never heard his story.
ELIZABETH VARTKESSIAN
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/04/27/ledell-lee-never-had-a-chance
Flawed Evidence and Hasty Execution Leads to ACLU and Innocence Project Lawsuit against Arkansas
https://www.davisvanguard.org/2020/01/flawed-evidence-and-hasty-execution-leads-to-aclu-and-innocence-project-lawsuit-against-arkansas/
FBaggins
(26,714 posts)(whether intentionally or not). The real question would be what would make you question it? Do you think some long-time DU poster just makes that stuff up?
The current reporting is obviously driven by the fight over getting access to this DNA evidence and the claims that it calls his conviction into question. We're obviously not going to hear the ACLU tell us that there's plenty of reason to belive that he was guilty anyway.
Your first source is presented as though it's an archive of relevant stories, but it just goes back to his execution (over two decades after the crime was committed). They're almost exclusively blog posts and you have to subscribe in order to read them... so we don't really know what they do or don't say.
Just as a hint for future "research". When you want to evaluate the facts of a case... there are better sources than articles 20+ years later that are really just about the death penalty. Some quick results:
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ar-supreme-court/1322909.html
https://law.justia.com/cases/arkansas/supreme-court/1996/cr96-590.html
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/354/846/576014/
stillcool
(32,626 posts)I was just looking for the "plenty of reason he was guilty anyway".
AZLD4Candidate
(5,639 posts)to give back.
All that I can think of is Blackstone right now.
BobTheSubgenius
(11,558 posts)Imagine the fear and intense turmoil that poor man had to endure...for 24 years.
On a much more trivial note....what's going on in that photo?
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,283 posts)The judge in his case was having an affair with the assistant prosecutor and his original defense attorney was drunk in court.
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