Id been following this trial somewhat closely
Submitted by Drifter on 2002-09-7 14:16:17, Saturday
In reply to The King Brothers Murder Trial Verdict... submitted by Muddyfox72 on 2002-09-7 05:33:31, Saturday
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I believe that justice is being served. Alex and Derek were obviously guilty, and Ricky Chavis' involvement seems to be only after the fact (he washed their clothes and hid them in his house). However he also took them to the police and convinced them to confess, so there may not be much against him in that case. Obviously he did have a sexual relationship with Alex, and whether or not there was love involved here (evidence seems to paint a picture of two people deeply in love) he needs to be sentenced, he knew the risk he took by being sexual, he chose to take it and he got caught. The only thing that bothers me about this trial was that the boys were found guilty of second degree murder without a weapon, when in fact all the evidence showed that they planned the murder (theres even witnesses who say they openly told their classmates while on the bus to school something to the effect of 'your gonna see us on the news tonight') and the murder was with a baseball bat as a weapon. That shouldve been a first degree murder charge, not second degree and not without a weapon, but if there had been a first degree murder conviction these young men would be sentenced to life without parole automatically, the judge could not make an exception. These are kids who did something wrong, and who are obvioiusly very troubled, but should have the possibility of some day being paroled depending on how they improve in prison, but the law would not allow this. In order for justice to be served, they had to find them guilty of a lesser offence. I think that shows a flaw in the US legal system, and I believe its time to do away with mandatory sentencing, thats what we have judges and parole boards for, to choose the best course of action for a particular person, why the need to make the system less flexible? Just my 2 cents. |
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