Surprise! "Arizona court overturns death penalty in 9/11 crime"

[Bluebear]

Roque

PHOENIX (Reuters) - The Arizona Supreme Court on Monday overturned a death sentence imposed on a suburban Phoenix man for gunning down an Indian immigrant just four days after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that Frank Roque should instead spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole for the high-profile killing of Balbir Singh Sodhi.

Roque apparently mistook Sodhi, a Sikh who wore a turban and beard, for an Arab.

The court ruled that death by lethal injection would be inappropriate because of "mitigating evidence" on Roque's mental condition and low intelligence...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060815/us_nm/crime_sikh_dc

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Don't get me wrong. I think the death penalty is barbaric. However, can we attribute this ruling to a new enlightenment? . . .or did the court simply 'understand' how this type of crime could be committed?

[bluestateguy]

1. That's a shame

That fat fuck should be exterminated.

But as you say, the Court may have "understood" the anger of an Angry White American after 9/11, and cut him some slack. Such allowances from the Court are rarely made for young black and Hispanic men who are driven to a life of crime as consequences of poverty and coming from broken homes.

[sandnsea]

2. Supremes said juries have to decide

So I don't get how a court can overturn except on legal irregularities. But this case sure seems to me to be evidence that the death penalty cannot be administered fairly, no way a minority would have gotten away with this sort of thing.

[Bluebear]

3. "Black man enraged at white race has death penalty overturned."

:rofl:

[rsr1771]

4. how did he get away with it?

The loser will be in prison for life. How is that "getting away with it"?

[sandnsea]

5. Now I didn't say that, did I

I said "this sort of thing" and was referring to the defense used to overturn the verdict. I'm against the death penalty in all cases so I'm fine with the sentence, but I'm also not going to ignore the fact that it was administered unfairly in this case.