When is Damien going to die?

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112885 Posts in 8614 Topics by 4618 Members
Latest Member: garrymoore

[taylorjaysmommy]

If one of my sons were to turn into mass, serial murderers ( neither of them will, I'm sure) .............I wouldn't want them to get the death penalty.  I wouldn't want them to spend the rest of their life in prison though either.  Guess I'd rather them be locked up indefinately as executed though. 

If one of my sons were murdered.............I don't know what I would want.  I never want to find out.  I know that if something like this happened with the murderers..........I don't know how I would handle it.  I would probably go completely insane.  Can you even imagine that happening to your baby and then seeing the murderers supported like they are some worthy celebrity? 

Todd, you are awesome strong, with the dignity and grace that should be commended each and every day.  Thank goodness you obviously have a wonderful family that helps to keep you grounded throughout this.  You are lucky to have them and they to have you. 

TJM

[mikespadre]

TJM funny thing thru this I did not have my family with me at all.... my brother and I didn't speak much about it and he said some very painful things back then that I and mostly my ex got pissed about.. he actually told us to get over it at one point, my sister who was devastated over it couldn't deal with it and my step dad would listen but mostly clamed up.
Our parish priest was the rock that we clinged to at the time- he pretty much saved my life and kept my head on straight during all of this I cried on his shoulder often and looked for his guidance thru these troubled times.  Even today my friends and I rarely talk about it. 
My sister told me the other day that on his birthday she stayed in bed and cried all day but as far as talking about him that don't happen much, Dawn my daughter called today to relate a story of how when she and the grandbabies went swimming today that her oldest sounded just like Michael when he said to her to look at his pockets filled with air and how they looked like "floatees" she said he sounded just like her goofy brother saying the same thing.
Note: since then my brother lost his youngest son to an auto accident and at that time of us not talking for years we understood each others pain and became very close (he is 15 yrs older) and now understands my pain.
I look up to my brother, he is awesome!
My sister on the other hand told her best friend the other day that she has two brothers- the oldest very successful and well to do and good looking  and then theres me her younger brother who is her "gitter done brother" of course she was only kiddin' but she does love my sense of humor and I keep her laughing all the time...life is too short sometimes ya just gotta laugh! to quote Jimmy Buffett "if we werent all crazy we would be insane"

[taylorjaysmommy]

Thanks for sharing that Todd.   I hated to read about your brothers loss also.  That is very sad.  Glad to hear that you two are close again.  Family members can be terds sometimes though.  I am an only child, so was always close to my cousins.  My Granny was a huge part of all of our lives.  She had lived with me for the past 7 years and I lost her a little over a year ago.  Alot of things went down, with the family while she was ill.......her own sons wife, and one of their children cleaned my Grannys bank account out, of over 30,000 dollars cash,  and THEN forged checks that could not clear, since they took every cent of her money.......and paid THEIR bills with them.  Cell phone bills for the entire extended family.  City utilities in the little town of Marmaduke, Arkansas..........the secretary remembered exactly when my aunt came in and handed her the check !  Shopping sprees, anyway, with the checks..........they had my Granny overdrawn by several thousand dollars, and warrants out for her arrest !  She had been in the hospital for almost two months.  Anyway, I am the difficult one, and was her power of attorney, so I went to the Jonesboro PD, Paragould PD, and Marmaduke PD and had warrants out for each one that had paid a bill in each city.  This almost caused a divorce here...........would you believe that the JPD 'CALLED' her and 'asked' her to come in, she said she would, but never did.  They tried to pick her up, unsuccessfully once or twice.........anyway, my darling Granny passed away, and I set all aside for the day of her funeral, and played nice.  With my Granny gone, the cases are done with............they will have to live with their conscious, but I don't have to be nice anymore, and I won't.   So............I don't have hardly any of my 'blood' family left.  I am estranged, I guess you could say.    The tie that bound us all together is now gone.   It is just odd what happens with families sometimes when they lose a loved one.  I never want to see any of my cousins, because the ones that didn't do the thefts, supported the guilty one and their mother when I pressed charges. 
Anyway, glad to hear about  you and your brother coming together again, just not for the reason that you did.    Your family has suffered enough.

TJM

[mikespadre]

yea I guess everyone can relate we all have a relative or two that hurt someone at some point.   Like we found out for ourselves that life is just too short. 
My sister who is five years older than I get along great, just last night we talked on the phone for about an hour and laughed so much my sides hurt.  she is a nut!

[Mary7875]

Todd, remember when O.J. wanted to sell his book, "If I Did It" & Fred Goldman raised such a ruckus?  I was cheering for Fred & my older son, Chris, felt like Goldman should just let it go, it's over, forget it.  I said to him, "If it had been you stabbed to death that night, I could never, ever let it go as long as your murderer was walking free & trying to make money off your death.  I'd hound him in any legal avenue for the rest of my natural life."  Chris didn't get it, because he wasn't a parent yet.

Now that he's married & has a little girl...well, let's just say he's come around to my way of thinking, lol!

[Farm]

If one of my sons were murdered.............I don't know what I would want.  I never want to find out.  I know that if something like this happened with the murderers..........I don't know how I would handle it.  I would probably go completely insane.

I can't possibly fathom it, beyond knowing myself well enough to know that I would probably be far less rational that some of these parents have been.

In my case, Melissa's "AND THE MOTHERS WHO BORE THEM!" line is probably closer to how I would react, regardless of how irrational It was.

I would want EVERYONE to pay.

 

[taylorjaysmommy]

While posting on another thread just now, I happened to remember one of my long ago thoughts, as to another punishment vs the death penalty.  Scientific Research!  Send them to 'the lab'.  hehhehheh  My idea of the lab, looked like a scene from 'invasion of the body snatchers'.  I think that was the name of it anyway, where they hung from the ceiling by cords and stuff.  I'm so gruesome!

TJM

I know that I swore this thread off a week or so ago, but I just thought of my old idea and thought I would gross some of ya'll out.
Now............I am swearing this thread off again to avoid flying tomatoes and rotten eggs! 

[DogIsYourName]

Just read this article about a man volunteering for execution.  It pretty much sums up what I've been talking about on here.  He knows he deserves it, and wants to pay for his crime the only way possible -- death.  I respect this guy.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/08/10/volunteer.execution.ap/index.html

[Farm]

He knows he deserves it

No Dog... he BELIEVES he deserves it.

I don't know how to break this to you, but someone agreeing with you doesn't make you right.

[DogIsYourName]

Rodriguez, 45, said he welcomes this week's execution, set for Thursday.

"I have a lot of people here telling me how unfair the system is," he told The Associated Press in what he said would be his first and last media interview. "At some point in our lives, you have to have some sort of accountability. I can't see how people in my situation deny that."

I agree 100%.

[Farm]

That's your perogative.

Just stop telling us your "opinion" is right.

[AnimeJSK]

Back to your original question / topic of this post . . . Your belief that Damien's murder by the State of Arkansas is somehow imminent is psychotic. 

If Burnett surprises us with an order from 8/20 that says "no hearing in September" (un-considered twist / ? - Does that mean Jason and Jessie's Rule 37 hearings go forward, or is that issue on the table as well?). 

Anyway, if Burnett says no hearing for Sept then that determination goes up the state ladder.  Six months up the state ladder might be optimistic (I think it was 21 months last time - conviction 3/94 and AR SCT 1/96?).  If the AR SCT reverses that determination, then the hearing now scheduled for September could occur as long as two years from now.

Assume the hearing is in September.  Burnett has been slow in his rulings, but he's retiring 12/08, so we've got to have something by then from him.  If he doesn't order a new trial after the hearing, I'm 90% sure Damien needs to pursue an appeal of these issues through the state system (which, because it's a DP case, goes straight to AR SCT).  If he rules with Damien (and/or in conjunction with Jessie and Jason, whose Rule 37 hearings are to be heard at the same time), it'll most probably be for a new trial and not an outright dismissal (there's always hope, but the realistic best result is an invalidation of the convictions - Brent then decides whether to re-try or dismiss).  (Damien is, in effect, getting a second bite at the Rule 37 apple, since not even Burnett could find a way to order a new trial for Jason and/or Jessie and not for Damien.)  If there's a new trial, well it was almost a year in preparation last time (6/93 - 4/94).

After this go-round with Burnett and then the AR SCT, Damien will have "exhausted his state remedies."
 
If he hasn't been released, the case then he goes to federal court for the habeas where he can raise all the issues - DNA, fibers, JUROR #4, animal predation, "eight is a withes' number" Dale Griffis' .... ... everything.  If it goes well (I think the AEDPA says the habeas has to be ruled on in 12 months), the federal court can either (1) find actual innocence and release him  or  (2) invalidate the conviction and send it back to AR State system for a new trial.  If it does neither, he goes to circuit court of appeals.  They have the same options (actual innocence or new trial in AR).  Next stop would be US SCT. 

Of course if, in the interim, new technology can (for example) better identify the allele or something else happens with evidence, there could potentially be a renewed state court application (the DNA statute is new and doesn't have a "one shot" deal like habeas - it's an open question).

In other words, the more I think about it....... Unless Brent gets sane and dismisses, it ain't gonna be over for quite some time.

[DogIsYourName]

Yet another reason why the State should retest the necklace and t-shirt.

If they truly want to put this thing to bed, they need to play a little offense instead of 100% defense.