[Deathpenalty]death penalty news --- CALIF.

[Joerg Sommer]

death penalty news

December 22, 2004


CALIFORNIA:

Peterson's verdict and the death penalty

For once, the system worked.

If we are going to have a death penalty in California -- and the need for a 
serious review is compelling -- it was tailor-made for Scott Peterson.

His crime was reprehensible, his guilt was overwhelming, his legal 
representation was first class, his trial was undeniably thorough and fair.

He earned his place on Death Row.

Just remember, however, this case is atypical. The overwhelming majority of 
Peterson's 650 Death Row contemporaries in California never had superstar 
attorney Mark Geragos at their side and a legion of legal experts 
scrutinizing every detail of a six-month trial.

The debate over the death penalty should not be about Peterson. He had his 
day in court -- and then some. It should be about the potential margin of 
error in many other convictions. It should be about the evidence that 
suggests capital punishment is not a deterrent, as it surely was not for 
Peterson. It should be about the morality of the state taking a life.

Executions occur so rarely in this state that the odds suggest Peterson is 
more likely to die of old age than lethal injection.

Even so, he will be housed for the rest of his life with the worst of the 
worst, which is exactly where he belongs.

(source: San Francisco Chronicle / South Bend (Indiana) Tribune)