Arizona woman becomes 55th sent to death row in US

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Clarice Silber, Associated Press
Updated 8:58 pm, Monday, August 7, 2017


PHOENIX (AP) — A Phoenix woman sentenced to death Monday in the killing of a 10-year-old cousin who was locked in a small plastic storage box and left to die is one of just dozens of female death-row inmates in the United States.

The jury reached the verdict after Sammantha Allen, 29, was convicted in June of first-degree murder and four counts of child abuse in the 2011 killing of Ame Deal, who was punished for stealing an ice pop.
 
Allen held her head in her hand and wept as the verdict was read and later cried and hugged her attorneys before she was led out of the courtroom.

"Lack of remorse was the biggest thing that played into it for us, that we didn't see that from Sammantha throughout the whole process," juror Anne Schaad told KTVK-TV.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/news/crime/article/Arizona-woman-sentenced-to-death-in-killing-of-11739867.php

[7962]

1. Justice would be less than a year for her to get the needle.

But no, the "system" will allow her to wallow in prison for years as one meaningless appeal after another creeps its way through the courts

[haele]

3. Death is final, true. But for the hundreds of people sitting on death row for crimes not committed?

I would gladly give her - hell, I'd gladly do the same with Ted Bundy - years of appeals while sitting in prison surrounded by other women who might have a 10-year old son they're missing than kill a man (or women) who's on death row because a prosecutor, judge or jury decided he needed killing. People had and still are sitting on death row no matter if s/he was even near the crime scene or if it was because someone who was arrested just needed to point a finger and that person was the first person they thought would look good under a bus.
There have been enough times that someone innocent of the crime had been executed and later on someone else confesses to the crime, or a DNA sample proves innocence.

That is why there are appeals. Even for the damaged monsters who "obviously" did it.

Here's another way of looking at it. Let her sit in prison and rot under while she appeals and appeals and appeals for people to forget all the evidence against her and let her out anyway. A quick, relatively painless death is too easy on her.

Haele

[7962]

5. Which is why i support a change in the DP law

The DP could only be sought when there is a case where there is ZERO doubt as to the guilt of the offender. Plenty of examples around of those. I'm talking about cases like the Atlanta courthouse shooter. Zero doubt by anyone.
Because there ARE too many people who get railroaded

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. There's always zero doubt

That's the problem.

Good Lord. You think juries and judges are out there sentencing people to death but saying, hmmm, maybe?

[7962]

7. The juror instruction is "beyond reasonable doubt". Not ZERO doubt.

Which means you could have some doubt and still vote guilty.
I say in any DP cases that instruction would be changed to NO doubt. Like the case i referred to. And plenty just like it.

[alcibiades_mystery]

11. Oh for God's sake

Yes, clearly, the prevailing standard is "beyond a reasonable doubt," but the vast majority operate on a zero doubt personal standard in capital cases, so your updated standard and instruction would be a distinction without a difference.

[7962]

12. I think it would have a distinct impact. We disagree.

Hearing from a judge that you have to be absolutely certain would carry some weight.
But in the cases I mention, its mere semantics. Because the whole world knows they're guilty before theres even a trial. Yes, these cases are that obvious. Plenty of them out there.
Take OJ Simpson for example. I would never give him the death penalty. Because you CAN inject some doubt. Dylan Roof? Zero doubt.

[ProgressiveValue]

14. I would support the DP for cases which can be no doubt.

An example would be the church shooter; he is on video. There is no doubt he did it. It is 100% certain. Clear cut cases like that, I would support not only the DP, but having it carried out immediately after the guilty verdict.

But you are very much correct. As it stands now, we are surely killing a few innocent people, which no civil society should stand for.

[markpkessinger]

17. The problem with this is that there is no practical way to implement it

There is a single standard of evidence required to convict under our legal system: beyond reasonable doubt. Verdicts don't come with relative degrees of certainty attached to them. If sentencing required the courts to determine the relative certainty of the verdict, that would, of legal necessity, require an entirely separate phase of trial between verdict and sentencing. This would dramatically increase both the cost and duration of these cases. And as for video, video cab be tampered with.

And anyway, what criteria would be necessary to establish "absolute" certainty of guilt? DNA evidence, you say? There have been cases of lab technicians in crime labs falsifying results. Granted, such cades are rare, but what if it were you or one of your loved ones who had been wrongfully convicted based on a falsified DNA test result? If a person wrongfully convicted is executed, there is no way available to right the wrong.

The belief that the death penalty can be administered justly and faurly undetlr any circumstances is a myth. The state has no business being in the business of retaliatiry killing. Period.

[Spider Jerusalem]

9. Nope, justice would be life with no possibility of parole

and the rest of her life to live with the consequences.

Sometimes I wonder if the USA's bloodthirsty love of capital punishment is related to the USA also being way more religious than any other developed country.

[brooklynite]

10. Just observing that folks here would then complain about the terms of confinement

[EllieBC]

15. Someone here would complain about a child killer getting a life sentence?

Well then they can host the killer in their home.

I seriously would question anyone who thinks child killers should be out and not confined.

[pansypoo53219]

2. death is easy. occasional smothering would be nice

[FLPanhandle]

4. Hard to shed any tears for that monster

Sorry, but the line of people in front of her who actually deserve sympathy is millions long.

Death or Life in Prison w/o parole. Whatever she least wants.

[NobodyHere]

8. Still not a fan of the DP

[Sunlei]

13. why doesn't the USA have a national number where children can call for help. even teach them to call

911. teams of adults abusing children, this has to stop.

[BillyGhote]

16. National Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-4-A-Child, 1-800-422-4453.