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Six Times is....

By Michael Blankenship

Curtis Flowers has stood before five juries in the past 13 years on capital murder charges, accused of killing four people in a Mississippi furniture store. This week, prosecutors are hoping his sixth trial will be the last. Flowers, 40, is believed to be the only person in recent U.S. history to be tried six times on the same capital murder charges. Read more... There are a number of troubling factors in this case aside from the fact that the upcoming trial will be the sixth attempt to convict and sentence the defendant to death. Race of the victims (three were white), jailhouse snitches, exclusion of blacks from the jury are several examples of the problems that plague this case. While the victims, their families, and the community are entitled to a conclusion to this case, what about the defendant? Is he not also entitled to a fair trial and a conclusion? How many times can be be put in jeopardy by the prosecutor? This case also illustrates that race and the death penalty are still closely connected, and thus another reason exists for killing the death penalty.continue to full post

Full post as published by The Justice Gambit on June 06, 2010 (boomark / email).