| | Home
The Human Zoo/September 15, 2011
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
Notes from around The Human Experience...
IT'S TIME, SIR: The Texas death chamber is getting a workout lately, currently in the middle of no less than four executions in an eight day period, which is a lot, even for Texas.
Most executions in Texas are fairly routine. They shouldn't be, because anytime a government kills one of its citizens it invites, or should invite, scrutiny, but most executions pass with only routine, official interest shown by the state, the witnesses and the media, which nowadays mostly shrugs and accepts whatever an entity, government, business or otherwise, chooses to spoon feed it.
USA! USA! Most of the time Texas kills honest to goodness killers who actually killed the people they were convicted of killing.
Fly In The Ointment: Not all the time, though.
Uh-Oh: Tuesday night Texas put to death one Steve Wood, convicted, along with Marcus Rhodes, for the deaths of two people in what is acknowledged as a drug turf war. All right. We're certainly not in favor of drug turf wars here at the Writer's Shack, so it's good the people involved are caught.
Uh-Oh II: In Texas, being present at a murder, and knowing the accomplice intended to kill, is enough to get you executed.
Howdy Pardner: Notice we didn't say "executed, too", because while Wood is dead, Rhodes made a deal with prosecutors, plead guilty, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Jones' attorneys made some noises about appealing, but these final appeals for clemency, indeed, some common sense, fell on deaf ears. Jones died for being at the murder scene, while the person who actually pulled the triggers, is serving a life sentence.
Here We Go Again: Stuff like this happens in Texas all the time, too. One of our fave instances came In 1999 when Texas killed James Beathard for murder despite the fact he didn't kill anyone. The false testimony that was used to convict him was later recanted, and there was zero physical evidence linking him to the crime anyway.
Dry, Technical Matter: Beathard, a 24-year-old pothead at the time, had accompanied Gene Hathorn to the trailer Hathor's parents lived in, thinking he was going to score some weed, when actually Hathorn planned to kill his family. When he realized what was happening, Beathard fled into the nearby woods.
Hathorn, who was convicted, sentenced to death and is still on death row for this crime, originally testified that Beathard did some of the shooting, too, though this testimony was later recanted and he stated Beathard didn't shoot anyone. Beathard died anyway.
Round Two: Next on the chopping block is Duane Buck, who is going to die Thursday night even though an expert witness at the penalty phase at his trial it was highly likely Buck's blackness would make for "future dangerousness" in prison, which in Texas is to be taken into consideration when deciding if someone lives or dies. This testimony was turned over by the prosecution and used as an argument to kill Buck, instead of giving him life in prison.
Hey, Don't Do Me Anymore Favors, Dude: This nugget came from a defense psychologist, supposedly on Buck's side, during cross-examination.
Damn Bleeding Hearts: Now, nobody is saying Buck isn't guilty, or that someone else pulled the trigger, or if someone did, that they only got life in prison. The point Buck is making, a point that was dismissed by the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole, was that no one should be executed because of a penalty phase tainted because of race.
More Dry, Technical Matter: On Wednesday the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Buck's appeal and Buck is about out of options.
Oh Yeah: Cleve Foster and Lawrence Brewer, are also scheduled to be executed in Texas, on September 20 and 21, respectively.
Get Your Official Writer's Shack Policy Right Here: This country has executed people for crimes they did not commit. Anybody who tells you differently is either lying to you or lying to themselves. The purpose of government is to provide for the liberty of its citizens and any nation that executes innocent people is defaulting on that obligation, so the death penalty should be abolished.
RUGBY FEVER, CATCH IT: Official Writer's Shack Faves the All Blacks, the national rugby team of New Zealand, is 1-0 in Pool A play at the Rugby World Cup, conveniently being played in New Zealand, especially after the goddamned French cheated at the 2007 World Cup (in France) by beating our All Blacks in the quarterfinals, even though the match was played in Wales not that we're still bitter about it or anything.
Back On Message: The All Blacks smacked Tonga around 41-10 in the opener last Friday, and will play Japan on Friday. The rematch with the hated French is September 24.
USA! USA! Team USA, known by those who care as the Eagles, is already virtually eliminated from advancement to the knockout stage following a 22-10 smack down by Ireland in their opener. A Team USA win today against Russia, though, will help matters.
WAR FEVER, CATCH IT: Warfare takes an exciting new turn as the tank debuts at the Battle of the Somme on this date in 1916. The battle featured the British and the French, as well as other Allies, taking on the Germans.
An invention of the British, the first tanks were slow, capable of only about 3 mph, and were mainly designed for trench warfare. They proved to be useful enough, although - and this will surprise anybody whose been in the service, anywhere, at anytime - they tended to be unreliable, with less than half of the four dozen available tanks making it into battle.
The battle had actually begun in July and would last until November. By any measure, its one million casualties made it one mankind's bloodiest battles. While not a decisive victory for the Allies, it did result in the Germans retreating 40 miles or so.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: Proclamation 4311 was the name of the act which pardoned Richard Nixon.
Today's Stumper: Since 1982, what percentage of people executed by the state of Texas have been black? - Answer next time!
Thought For The Day: Couple of matters that I want to talk about since this is one of the few times people will listen to what I have to say…I'm dying tonight based on testimony, that all parties, me, the man who gave the testimony, the prosecutor he…knew it was a lie. - James Beathard, before being executed, 12/9/99
Comments? Recipes? Complaints? Email the Writer's Shack here!
Home |
| |
