Iamthefallen's Journal: [Death penalty] Guilt and innocence rant

If you've kept up with the news, you've no doubt seen that DNA testing failed to support the idea of Roger Coleman's innocence.

Note my choice of words, because that was what the death penalty opponents were hoping for. The new DNA findings didn't prove him guilty, he was already proven guilty, beyond all reasonable doubt, in a court of law. It supported the conviction, nothing more.

DNA, even if it had come back belonging to another man, would simply have proven that Roger Coleman did not ejaculate in Wanda McCoy. Perhaps it could've provided enough doubt to review the case and the other evidence presented. But unlike what the headlines said, it would not have proven him innocent.

What I find particularly disturbing with this case, is that much like the Schiavo debate, everyone seems to have an opinion without actually looking at facts and evidence objectively. Anything that doesn't support my view is dismissed. Inside Out Documentaries for instance has an article about the case and there's little doubt about which side they wish to present.

From TFA:

Jim McCloskey fought for years to save his life, and is still trying to clear his name. "I promised Roger Coleman the night he was executed [that] I would do all within my power to prove that he was innocent," says McCloskey. "Those were my last words to a dying man."

McCloskey is a former management consultant who founded Centurion Ministries in Princeton, New Jersey, where he works to get the falsely convicted out of jail and sometimes off of death row. On the walls of his office, framed newspaper pages tell the stories of the 25 men he's helped to free in the last 20 years. Also on the wall, the cover of Time Magazine from May 19th, 1992, the day before Roger Coleman was executed. It shows a picture of Coleman and the caption, "This man might be innocent. This man is due to die."

And now, with the new findings supporting the guilty verdict he is quoted in the CNN article above:

"I now know that I was wrong. Indeed, this is a bitter pill to swallow," McCloskey said, describing Thursday's findings as "a kick in the stomach" and adding that he felt betrayed by Coleman.

Or again, from TFA:

Death penalty proponents welcomed the results. "Stop the presses -- it turns out that rapists and killers are also liars," Michael Paranzino, president of a group called Throw Away the Key, said in a statement.

I wish I could mod CNN quotes insightful.

I also can't help but wonder... of the 25 men that Mr McCloskey helped free, how many did actually rape, torture and kill someone and managed to convince him and the legal system of their innocence?

This seems to be another fake-but-true type situation, we all know that innocents, esepcially blacks, are executed on a regular basis. We just can't prove it. But that doesn't mean it's not happening! And of course, the failure to prove it has nothing to do with them actually being guilty. Rather it is because the prosecutor, governors and judges are part of an elaborate conspiracy to cover it all up...

All this said, and I know I've said this before: I don't like the death penalty.

I don't have any sympathy for Roger Coleman or his kind, I just don't trust the government enough with the power to be able to execute people. I believe that government, including the courts, is inept, incompetent, and corrupt. If I don't trust government with the power to seize my property, provide for my retirement, provide me with healthcare, unemployment benefits, or basic protection, how the hell can I trust it to be allowed to kill people?

So I'm very much in favor of allowing DNA testing in cases where it would make sense, especially when the convict is on death row. But the results must be taken in context. A DNA mismatch doesn't clear the man who was arrested while holding a smoking gun.