[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., N.C., FLA., NEB., COLO., ARIZ., CALIF., USA

[Rick Halperin]

July 29



PENNSYLVANIA:

Double Murderer Plans to Represent Himself During Appeal


Notorious killer Raghunandan Yandamuri, who has been sentenced to death for 
killing an Indian American baby girl and her grandmother in their Pennsylvania 
home, will represent himself during an appeal to the Pennsylvania State Supreme 
Court.

Following a hearing July 20, Montgomery County, Penn., Court of Common Pleas 
Judge Steven O'Neill ruled that Yandamuri could represent himself but also 
appointed two standby attorneys Stephen Heckman and Henry Hilles, who had also 
served as standby attorneys for the killer during his trial, at which he also 
represented himself.

"As much as this court is reluctant to grant such relief, I feel I am compelled 
to," O'Neill said, as reported by local media. O'Neill characterized Heckman 
and Hilles as "zealous advocates" who "uphold the Constitution every waking day 
of their lives." Yandamuri had fired Heckman before his trial, but O'Neill 
re-appointed him as stand-by counsel.

Following a 2-week trial in October 2014, Yandamuri, 29, was convicted of 2 
counts of 1st-degree murder in the 2012 deaths of 61-year-old Satyavathi Venna 
and her 10-month-old grand-daughter Saanvi Venna at their apartment home in 
King of Prussia, Penn., in October 2012. The software engineer - who is in the 
U.S. on an H-1B visa - attempted to kidnap Saanvi in an attempt to get a 
$50,000 ransom from her parents. Yandamuri, whose wife was pregnant with the 
couple's 1st child at the time of the killings, was heavily in debt, largely 
due to his gambling addiction.

Saanvi was the 1st child of software engineers Latha and Venkata Venna; 
Satyavathi was Venkata's mother. The Yandamuris and Vennas lived in the same 
apartment complex and were frequent guests at each other's homes.

The Andhra Pradesh native was sentenced Nov. 20, 2014 to death by lethal 
injection (http://bit.ly/1D6RNR6). Before his sentence was delivered, Yandamuri 
told Judge O'Neill he wished to die. "I don't want this hearing; I would rather 
take the death penalty."

Heckman and Hilles both stated that Yandamuri has a tough road ahead, noting 
the difficulty of finding resources at the prison library and the killer???s 
inchoate ramblings during oral and written arguments.

A hearing date has not been set. New York attorney Ravi Batra told India-West 
after Yandamuri was sentenced to death that the Indian government could 
technically invoke Article 36 of the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations 
and return Yandamuri to India to escape the death penalty, as a local consulate 
had not been informed of the charges against the software engineer.

The U.S. has never ratified the VCCR.

(source: indiawest.com)






NORTH CAROLINA:

Don't add secrecy to the lethal-injection formula


The legislative urgency to get North Carolina back into executing murderers has 
reached a fever pitch that looks a lot like bloodlust. It's an ugly spectacle.

A bill approved by the state Senate late Monday would cast a shroud of secrecy 
over executions and could end physician participation in them.

The measure - House Bill 774 - would repeal a requirement that a physician 
monitor all executions. It would instead allow any licensed medical 
professional - a physician assistant, a nurse or even an emergency medical 
technician - to supervise the administration of the lethal injection.

That change is rooted in the state's inability to find doctors willing to 
preside over executions. Most argue that it's a violation of their medical 
codes of ethics and the Hippocratic oath. That's one key reason why there have 
been no executions in North Carolina for the past nine years, a problem for 
some lawmakers that they appear desperate to solve.

The bill also would cast a dark curtain over the details of executions, barring 
release of the names of the companies that make or provide the drugs used for 
lethal injections. Nor could there be disclosure of the kinds of drugs or the 
sequence of their administration. And the state Rules Review Commission would 
lose its oversight of execution protocols.

In short, North Carolina executions would mostly turn into a state secret, away 
from any possible oversight.

What all of this will do, we expect, is heighten the likelihood that the courts 
will find North Carolina's executions to be the "cruel and unusual punishment" 
that the Constitution forbids.

This attempt to obscure the execution process comes at a time when serious 
questions are being raised about the death penalty, including 2 justices of the 
U.S. Supreme Court wondering in an opinion this year whether the death penalty 
is constitutional.

That debate will surely continue, and it should. We need thoughtful discussion 
of the issue and whether we're imposing a fair sentence or simply seeking 
revenge for a terrible crime.

What we don't need is a General Assembly slicing away at reasonable public 
understanding of the state's execution protocols, instead choosing to wrap it 
all in secrecy.

We'd like to believe it's still our government, not the personal property of a 
privileged few in the halls of state government.

(source: Editorial, Fayetteville Observer)






FLORIDA:

Santa Rosa gets first crack at man accused in killing spree


The 1st of 2 separate murder trials for a man charged with a trio of Gulf Coast 
homicides will be in Santa Rosa County.

In a court hearing Tuesday afternoon, the defense counsel for Derrick Ray 
Thompson, 42, told Judge John L. Miller that the 14th Judicial Circuit will 
allow Thompson to stand trial for the murders of Milton spouses Steven and 
Debra Zackowski before he is prosecuted for the slaying of a Panama City 
businessman.

Miller set a tentative trial date of mid-to-late April, 2016.

Thompson allegedly killed the Zackowskis in July 2014 after a dispute over 
maintenance work Thompson was performing at the couple's Goliath Road home. 
Investigators say Thompson then stole the Zackowskis' vehicle, drove it to Bay 
County the following day to the home of Allen Johnson - a Panama City club 
owner Thompson was acquainted with - killed and robbed Johnson, then used the 
proceeds to buy narcotics.

Thompson was captured outside a Troy, Ala,, hunting lodge the next morning. He 
was reportedly still driving Johnson's vehicle and armed with a rifle and 
several hand guns.

Thompson, who has been charged with 3 counts of premeditated 1st-degree murder, 
has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Prosecutors in both Florida districts indicated they would seek the death 
penalty in the case.

Preparations are continuing for a Panama City trial in regard to Johnson's 
murder. A trial date for that case has not yet been set.

(source: Pensacola News Journal)

****************

1st U.S. Exonerated Death Row Prisoner Dies


David Keaton, 63, the 1st man in the U.S. to be exonerated from death row, died 
July 3 in Florida. Keaton was one of the Quincy 5, a group of young, black men 
that lived in Quincy, Fla., a small town west of Tallahassee. The 5 men were 
arrested for the murder of a Leon County Sheriff at a Tallahassee convenience 
store. Their arrests led to protests in Quincy and Tallahassee from those who 
believed the young men to be innocent.

Through coerced confessions and false eyewitness testimonies, Keaton was put on 
trial, and sentenced to death in May 1971, at age 18. None of the evidence 
added up until a Tallahassee private investigator found ballistic and 
fingerprint evidence leading to the overturning of Keaton's and the other's 
convictions. 3 men from Jacksonville were arrested and convicted of the murder 
leading to Keaton's exoneration.

When he was finally released in 1979, Keaton, who was never compensated from 
the state of Florida for his false imprisonment, went on to become a founder of 
Witness to Innocence, an organization made up of exonerated men and women from 
death row. After his exoneration, he appeared before the Florida Cabinet, and 
had his voting rights restored.

A movie about the Quincy 5, called "Exonerated," was released in 2005. Keaton 
was played by Danny Glover.

At this writing, 154 prisoners have been exonerated from death row based on 
solid evidence; 25 of those are from Florida, the highest number in the nation. 
Since 1979, when Florida restarted executions, 90 prisoners have been put to 
death by electric chair or lethal injection. This number means nearly one in 
four death row sentences have been overturned. There are still nearly 400 
prisoners awaiting execution on Florida's death row. Florida is the only state 
that does not require a unanimous jury vote to recommend a death sentence.

"David was not clear on much of what transpired at his trial and sentencing," 
said Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty executive director Mark 
Elliott. "He said he was traumatized and numbed by the process. He knew he was 
innocent and thought the system would not convict an innocent man. The state 
kept no record of the jury vote for death. I asked Dave what the jury vote was 
and he said all he remembered was the judge saying he would be put to death. He 
said the judges words overshadowed everything else that happened."

In 2002, Keaton along with 3 other exonerated death row prisoners, and 80 other 
marchers, led a march from Florida State Prison in Raiford, to the governor's 
office in Tallahassee, to deliver 20,000 petitions asking Gov. Jeb Bush, a 
Catholic, to call a "Time Out on Executions." Bush was out campaigning for 
re-election at the time.

Keaton was described as a gentle and stoic devout Christian. He lived a simple 
life, working as a landscaper and tree trimmer until he was injured and needed 
a wheelchair. He often spoke with students about his experience and encouraged 
them to complete their education. A poet, and singer of gospel music, he worked 
to overturn the death penalty as long as he was physically able.

(source: National Catholic Reporter)






NEBRASKA:

Nebraska Senator Bob Krist Explains Why He Said "No" to the Death Penalty


The death penalty has for years been a polarizing issue in the United States. 
Proponents and opponents alike have strong opinions and strong emotional 
responses to the issue. In May, 2015, the Nebraska legislature overrode a 
governor's veto to abolish the death penalty in that state. One of the unusual 
aspects of this occurrence is that a conservative legislature overrode the veto 
of a Republican governor to eliminate the death penalty.

One of those voting to repeal the death penalty was Senator Bob Krist. In a 
recent opinion piece in the Omaha World-Herald, Krist explained his concerns 
about the death penalty Krist explains his position in this report. [Note: In 
his op-ed piece, Senator Krist refers to information from the Death Penalty 
Information Center as to the cost of carrying out executions.

Krist explains that he reached his decision on the death penalty issue based on 
hearing 6 years of data about it. Among the things that came to light are the 
considerable expenses of any death penalty case, from the decision to seek the 
penalty to the actual carrying out of it. He now supports a sentence of life 
without parole instead of death. "Civilized society does not need the death 
penalty."

In Krist's op-ed piece he notes that "[m]ore than 15 states have done cost 
studies on the death penalty." He notes that all of them concluded that the 
death penalty was more expensive than life imprisonment. Krist thinks the 
evidence is compelling for someone who analyzes the issue on the basis of cost, 
and he believes other states will come to see the logic of Nebraska's position. 
Of course, people who are seeking vengeance will be unlikely to consider the 
cost to the public.

Another aspect of carrying out the death penalty is the long string of cases 
challenging the way in which the penalty is carried out, in particular lethal 
injection. A number of states have struggled to find a lethal drug solution 
that would pass muster with the Supreme Court. Even if states tried to go back 
to the electric chair, the gas chamber, hanging, or the firing squad, there 
would probably continue to be challenges and problems. Krist does not believe 
that there will be a completely acceptable solution in his lifetime.

As to ways to reduce the expense of carrying out the death penalty, the only 
thing that would reduce those expenses would be to change the appeals process. 
Of course, there is already an extensive appeals process for all felony 
convictions. One important reason for all those appeals is that errors in the 
trial process are found. Occasionally, innocent people have been put to death. 
Given all of the problems that have occurred with faulty convictions, Krist 
says, it is difficult to draw a line after which appeals would not be allowed.

Voters in Nebraska may have the opportunity to vote on the death penalty. Krist 
says he supports letting the voters consider the issue. He believes that the 
majority of voters would support what the legislature has done.

(source: Senator Bob Krist represents the 10th district in the Nebraska 
legislature. He served 21 years in the Air Force, retiring as a lieutenant 
colonel. He held key leadership positions directing critical missions including 
the high-visibility Looking Glass mission at Offutt Air Force Base. He was 
appointed to fill a legislative vacancy in 2009 and won his election to the 
office in 2010. His district includes part of Omaha----Legal Broadcast Network)




COLORADO:

Aurora Theater Shooting Trial: Father of James Holmes Testifies as Jurors Weigh 
Death Penalty


Robert Holmes, the father of convicted Aurora theater shooter James Holmes, 
took the stand on Tuesday to describe his son as a somewhat introverted high 
school and college student, who did well academically, but who displayed 
unusual expressions in the months leading up to his July 20, 2012 shooting 
rampage in an Aurora, Colo. movie theater.

James Holmes has been convicted in the deaths of 12 people and the attempted 
murder of 70 others. Jurors are now in the sentencing phase of the trial, as 
Holmes' lawyers present testimony from Holmes' family members and friends in an 
effort to spare him the death penalty. Last week, the jury found that there 
were "aggravating factors" in Holmes' shooting massacre, meaning that they will 
consider capital punishment.

Much of the day was spent reviewing family photos and videos, showing a 
relatively normal family life in which James Holmes loved playing soccer and 
took to playing video games like World of Warcraft.

"He was always, actually, an excellent kid," Robert Holmes said when asked by a 
defense attorney to describe his relationship with his son.

The father, who has been present throughout the trial with his wife, Arlene, 
testified that he was unaware in 2012 was suffering from suicidal and homicidal 
thoughts, as he had confessed to a therapist before the theater shooting. 
Robert Holmes said that they were aware that their son was seeing a 
psychiatrist, and instead were worried that he was depressed after dropping out 
of graduate school in Denver. But the psychiatrist would not provide them with 
details.

Robert Holmes said that other family members did suffer from mental illness.

Robert and Arlene Holmes live in San Diego, and recalled noticing something 
different about his son's expression when he visited in California for the 
holidays in 2011. He described it as an "odd facial expression," or "kind of a 
grimace or a smirk." Holmes said that the expression was similar to one from 
his son's mug shot, which was shown to the jury.

The defense played 2011 voice mail messages from the father to his son. Robert 
Holmes said that he was concerned as he hadn't heard from him in some time.

"We were finding it hard to have phone contact," Robert Holmes said, adding 
that his son would sometimes answer email. By the spring of 2012, he said that 
he was "looking for clues of depression." To their surprise, when they talked 
to him on July 4, 2012, just weeks before the shooting rampage, they found that 
he "was really chatty," whereas he typically would give short answers.

"It was unusual, but it wasn't alarming," he said. "I was looking for clues of 
depression."

Arlene Holmes is expected to testify on Wednesday.

(source: variety.com)

**********************

Father of Colorado theater shooter was unaware he was seeing psychiatrist 
before deadly attack


James Holmes came home for winter break from graduate school looking haggard 
and making odd facial expressions that looked similar to the wide-eyed smirk he 
flashed in one of his first jail booking photos after he opened fire on a 
crowded Colorado movie theater 7 months later, his father said.

Robert Holmes testified that he never suspected his son was mentally ill before 
he killed 12 people in the July 2012 attack, but he and his wife became 
increasingly concerned in the months before the shooting. They rarely spoke to 
their son by phone, but he had stopped returning their calls entirely. The 
phone call they received instead was from their son's psychiatrist, saying he 
Holmes was dropping out of his prestigious neuroscience program.

"We didn't know he was seeing a psychiatrist," Robert Holmes said. He and his 
wife thought their son was depressed or suffering Asperger's syndrome, but the 
doctor would not return their calls seeking more information.

So they planned to visit him, but it would be too late. The flight Robert 
Holmes booked instead was to see his son looking sullen and confused during his 
first court appearance.

Robert Holmes will return to the stand Wednesday to continue testifying as his 
son's defense team tries to show that even this killer is loved and has people 
who still care about him.

Death sentences must be unanimous, and the judge has explained to jurors that 
their decision will be highly personal. While jurors have already found Holmes 
was legally sane at the time of the attack, his defense is hoping at least one 
juror will agree that his mental illness and family ties reduce his moral 
culpability so much that he deserves the mercy of a life sentence instead.

Defense attorneys will also call his mother, Arlene Holmes, to the stand as 
they prepare to rest their portion of the sentencing phase, which has included 
several dozen family friends, teachers and former neighbors who said the Holmes 
they knew was shy, mild-mannered and polite - not the kind of young man who 
would gun down innocent strangers.

As Robert Holmes testified Tuesday, jurors saw pictures and home-movies from 
Holmes' unremarkable childhood: A younger Holmes on the soccer field; Holmes 
graduating high school; Holmes smiling at the family dinner table; Holmes 
playing in the surf at one of the many beaches near their quiet California 
neighborhood.

The father said his son was an isolated teen with few friends, but he wasn't 
too concerned, since he was similar growing up. The younger Holmes never 
brought a girlfriend home, and his father rarely, if ever saw him with friends.

His parents were thrilled to learn he had started dating in graduate school, 
Robert Holmes said. So when his 1st relationship ended, he knew it wasn't a 
good sign.

"We knew some things weren't going well there," Robert Holmes said.

When it came time to cross-examine the older Holmes, District Attorney George 
Brauchler focused on what the parents didn't know or didn't tell jurors: that 
James Holmes' mother took him to a counselor when he was just 8 because he was 
throwing things and acting out, and that once he was in college he lost touch 
with his younger sister, and never inquired about her well-being. Brauchler 
will continue questioning Robert Holmes Wednesday.

While Robert Holmes occasionally glanced at his son during his testimony, the 
two did not acknowledge each other until near end of the day. Robert Holmes 
mouthed something at this son, who waved slightly at him. They both smiled.

The father said that he has only seen his son in jail 3 times because he 
typically does not allow visitors. During a rare visit, James Holmes "was 
clearly really messed up," his father said. "But he told us he loved us."

(source: Associated Press)






ARIZONA:

Death penalty possible for man convicted of killing Phoenix Officer Travis 
Murphy


A man convicted of 1st-degree murder in the shooting of a Phoenix police 
officer is facing the death penalty.

Jurors on Tuesday found aggravating factors in the case against Danny Ledezma 
Martinez. They will return at 1:30 p.m. to begin the penalty phase.

Martinez was found guilty of first-degree murder earlier this month in the 2010 
shooting of Officer Travis Murphy.

Prosecutors had previously said they would seek the death penalty in the case.

The 34-year-old Martinez was accused of shooting Murphy with an AR-15 type 
rifle early on the morning of May 26, 2010.

Officers were responding to a suspicious person call and Murphy was gunned down 
in front of a central Phoenix home. The 4-year veteran later died at a 
hospital.

Phoenix police say Martinez has an extensive record of violent crimes.

Records show he served more than 3 years in prison on weapons charges from the 
Tucson area and was released in 2009.

(source: ABC news)






CALIFORNIA:

Mistrial declared in penalty phase of man convicted of killing Vallejo Officer 
Jim Capoot


A mistrial has been declared in the penalty phase of the death penalty trial of 
the man convicted of killing Vacaville resident and Vallejo Police Officer Jim 
Capoot.

Juror's found Henry Albert Smith Jr., 41, guilty of 1st degree murder of the 
officer last week.

Today, however, a juror was excused for a hardship and no alternate jurors 
remain.

That means that the same jury that convicted Smith last week of 1st degree 
murder with special circumstances and robbery in connection with the Nov. 17, 
2011 gunshot slaying of Capoot, will not determine his punishment.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty and jurors in the case were expected 
to begin a penalty phase this week in which they would decide whether Smith 
would be sentenced to life in prison without parole, or go to death row.

The mistrial came as a juror in the case is set to move out of state at the end 
of the week. These plans were made known to Judge Peter B. Foor and the 
attorneys in the case during the jury selection process months ago.

However, the start of the trial was stalled for 3 weeks by a state court of 
appeal, and another week of testimony was lost due to a sudden illness.

The guilt phase of the trial took nearly a month longer to complete than 
anticipated. Foor explored numerous options with the juror in hopes she could 
stay an extra 2 weeks, but ultimately found it would pose an undue hardship on 
her and her family.

Despite the mistrial, Smith's conviction remains and a new jury will be 
selected to determine his punishment.

Attorneys will return Aug. 31 to select a date when jury selection would begin 
for the penalty phase.

Defense attorneys noted at the end of Tuesday's hearing that they would file a 
number of motions, including a change of venue motion, in the meantime.

Smith remains in Solano County Jail custody.

(source: The Reporter)






USA:

The cost of convicting the innocent


I edit the National Registry of Exonerations, which compiles stories and data 
about people who were convicted of crimes in the United States and later 
exonerated. The cases are fascinating and important, but they wear on me: So 
many of them are stories of destruction and defeat.

Consider, for example, Rafael Suarez. In 1997 in Tucson, Suarez was convicted 
of a vicious felony assault for which another man had already pleaded guilty. 
Suarez's lawyer interviewed the woman who called 911 to report the incident as 
well as a 2nd eyewitness. Both said that Suarez did not attack the victim and, 
in fact, had attempted to stop the assault. A 3rd witness told the lawyer that 
he heard the victim say that he would lie in court to get Suarez convicted. 
None of these witnesses were called to testify at trial. Suarez was convicted 
and sentenced to 5 years.

After these facts came to light in 2000, Suarez was released. He had lost his 
house and his job, and his plan to become a paralegal had been derailed. His 
wife had divorced him, and he had lost parental rights to their 3 children, 
including 1 born while he was locked up. Suarez sued his former lawyer, who by 
then had been disbarred. He got a $1 million judgment, but the lawyer had no 
assets and filed for bankruptcy. Barring a miracle, Suarez will never see a 
penny of that judgment.

The most depressing thing about Suarez's case is how comparatively lucky he 
was. He was exonerated, against all odds, because his otherwise irresponsible 
lawyer had actually talked to the critical witnesses and recorded those 
interviews despite failing later to call them at trial.

Suarez served 3 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. The average time 
served for the 1,625 exonerated individuals in the registry is more than 9 
years. Last year, 3 innocent murder defendants in Cleveland were exonerated 39 
years after they were convicted - they spent their entire adult lives in prison 
- and even they were lucky: We know without doubt that the vast majority of 
innocent defendants who are convicted of crimes are never identified and 
cleared.

The registry receives 4 or 5 letters a week from prisoners who claim to be 
innocent. They're heartbreaking. Most of the writers are probably guilty, but 
some undoubtedly are not. We tell them that we can't help; we are a research 
project only, we don't represent clients or investigate claims of innocence. 
Fair enough, I guess, but some innocent prisoners who have been exonerated 
wrote hundreds of these letters before anybody took notice. How many innocent 
defendants have I ignored?

Innocence projects do handle these cases, or at least some of them. They 
receive many times more letters than we do. I've spoken with lawyers who do 
this work, and who have successfully exonerated dozens of defendants. Most of 
them have clients who remain in prison despite powerful evidence of their 
innocence that no court will consider. And they all know that there are 
countless innocent defendants hidden in the piles of pleas for help that they 
will never have time to investigate.

How many people are convicted of crimes they did not commit? Last year, a study 
I co-authored on the issue was published in the Proceedings of the National 
Academy of Sciences. It shows that 4.1 % of defendants who are sentenced to 
death in the United States are later shown to be innocent: 1 in 25.

Death sentences are uniquely well- documented. We don't know nearly enough 
about other kinds of criminal cases to estimate the rate of wrongful 
convictions for those. The rate could be lower than for capital murders, or it 
could be higher. Of course, in a country with millions of criminal convictions 
a year and more than 2 million people behind bars, even 1 % amounts to tens of 
thousands of tragic errors.

The problem may be worst at the low end of the spectrum, in misdemeanor courts 
where almost everybody pleads guilty. For example, in July 2014 Wassillie 
Gregory was charged with "harassment" of a police officer in Bethel, Alaska. 
The officer wrote in his report that Gregory was "clearly intoxicated" and that 
"I kindly tried to assist Gregory into my cruiser for protective custody when 
he pulled away and clawed at me with his hand."

The next step in the case would normally be the last: Gregory pleaded guilty, 
without the benefit of a defense lawyer. But Gregory was exonerated a year 
later after a surveillance video surfaced showing the officer handcuffing him 
and then repeatedly slamming him onto the pavement.

In the past year, 45 defendants were exonerated after pleading guilty to 
low-level drug crimes in Harris County, Texas They were cleared months or years 
after conviction by lab tests that found no illegal drugs in the materials 
seized from them.

Why then did they plead guilty? As best we can tell, most were held in jail 
because they couldn't make bail. When they were brought to court for the 1st 
time, they were given a take-it-or-leave-it, for-today-only offer: Plead guilty 
and get probation or weeks to months in jail. If they refused, they'd wait in 
jail for months, if not a year or more, before they got to trial, and risk 
additional years in prison if they were convicted. That's a high price to pay 
for a chance to prove one's innocence.

Police officers are supposed to be suspicious and proactive, to stop, question 
and arrest people who might have committed crimes, or who might be about to do 
so. Most officers are honest, and, I am sure, they are usually right. But 
"most" and "usually right" are not good enough for criminal convictions. Courts 
- judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, sometime juries - are supposed to 
decide criminal cases. Instead, most misdemeanor courts outsource deciding 
guilt or innocence to the police. It's cheaper, but you get what you pay for.

We can do better, of course - for misdemeanors, for death penalty cases and for 
everything in between - if we're willing to foot the bill. It'll cost money to 
achieve the quality of justice we claim to provide: to do more careful 
investigations, to take fewer quick guilty pleas and conduct more trials, and 
to make sure those trials are well done. But first we have to recognize that 
what we do now is not good enough.

(source: Samuel R. Gross, a law professor at the University of Michigan, is the 
editor of the National Registry of Exonerations; delawareonline.com)