The_RANDy_Corporation
03-10-2001, 02:02 PM
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If there was a competency hearing and this guy could stand trial, what's the problem with frying him now? He wasn't so retarded that it stopped him from raping and killing the sisters!
******
Mar 6, 2001 - 04:30 PM
Missouri Set to Execute a Borderline Retarded Man
The Associated Press
POTOSI, Mo. (AP) - A borderline retarded man awaited execution early Wednesday for taking part in the slaying of two sisters who were raped and pushed to their deaths off a Mississippi River bridge.
Amnesty International said Antonio Richardson, 26, would be the second person executed in 40 years in the United States for a crime committed at 16 or younger.
With the execution hours away, Richardson looked to the U.S. Supreme Court and to Gov. Bob Holden, who was weighing a request for clemency.
"At this point, I have not seen any additional information that would indicate that we should not go forward," Holden said.
The clemency request said Richardson was 16 at the time of the 1991 killings; his IQ was around 70; and he was born brain-damaged.
Defense attorney Gino Battisti asked the high court for a stay while it determines whether executing the mentally retarded violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition agaainst cruel and unusual punishment.
"I think there is a consensus now against executing the mentally retarded," Battisti said.
Richardson was scheduled to die by injection at 12:01 a.m. at the Potosi Correctional center.
Richardson was convicted for his role in the deaths of Robin Kerry, 19, and her sister Julie, 20.
Richardson and three friends robbed the sisters' 19-year-old cousin, Thomas Cummins, raped the young women, then took all three to a pier. Robin and Julie were pushed off - not by Richardson - and Cummins was ordered to jump into the river, 70 feet below. Cummins swam to safety.
Two of Richardson's friends are now also on death row. A third received a 30-year sentence in exchange for his testimony.
Ginny Kerry, the girls' mother, asked the governor to spare Richardson's life, citing his age and limited mental capacity. Other relatives of the victims, including Kerry's ex-husband, supported the execution.
Groups such as Amnesty International, the Association for Retarded Citizens, Human Rights Watch and the European Union urged the governor to halt the execution.
Amnesty International spokesman Adam Ortiz said the last time a killer was executed in the United States for a crime committed at 16 or younger was in 1999 in Oklahoma.
------------ Joshua 24:15
Stranglehold
Forum Moderator
posts: 182
(3/6/01 5:46:13 pm)
Reply More info?
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Quote:
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Richardson was convicted for his role in the deaths of Robin Kerry, 19, and her sister Julie, 20.
Richardson and three friends robbed the sisters' 19-year-old cousin, Thomas Cummins, raped the young women, then took all three to a pier. Robin and Julie were pushed off - not by Richardson - and Cummins was ordered to jump into the river, 70 feet below. Cummins swam to safety.
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OK, I have no problem with Capital Punishment, but what was this person's role in the crime?
I see no mention of it, except that he was just there and pushed no one off of nothing...
Did he participate in the rape? Is this wrong? Did he participate in the murder(s)?
If not, then I see no reason to execute someone because they were "there," especially in light of the fact he was mentally retarded.
I have no proplem with executing the mentally retarded when they are obviously intelligent enough to perform rape, homicide, whatever...
I see nothing in this article that would lead me to believe he should be executed at all.
Any more info?
Stranglehold
Forum Moderator
posts: 183
(3/6/01 5:58:17 pm)
Reply Let me clarify a couple points...
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In Maryland, there is a debate going on about executing a so-called, "retarded man."
This man has been serving time, off and on since the early to middle 1970s.
After he was released the last time, he was out for 6 days...SIX DAYS.
He lured a 10 year old boy with the promise of purchasing for him Pokemon Cards at a 7-11 in Frederick, Maryland.
They have him on the store's surveillance video, they also have DNA Evidence. It looks like an open and shut case. So, now he has "diminished capacity" and he's "mentally retarded."
This makes no difference to me, even if it is true. He was obviously intelligent enough and had enough "capacity" to think up a ruse to lure the boy away, and the boy, God rest his Soul, was taken to a baseball park, sexually assaulted, then beaten and choked to death.
He did this on his own.
Now, in this case, if this person was of "diminished capacity" but part of a group...what are we to do if he did not participate in the murder?
Have you ever seen how kids treat retarded kids? They are often times "dared, coaxed or goaded" into doing things they would not normally do.
In other words, this person might not be a predator, but truly a victim of circumstance.
I don't know, but this does not sit well with the information provided and I am 100% Pro-Capital Punishment.
If there was a competency hearing and this guy could stand trial, what's the problem with frying him now? He wasn't so retarded that it stopped him from raping and killing the sisters!
******
Mar 6, 2001 - 04:30 PM
Missouri Set to Execute a Borderline Retarded Man
The Associated Press
POTOSI, Mo. (AP) - A borderline retarded man awaited execution early Wednesday for taking part in the slaying of two sisters who were raped and pushed to their deaths off a Mississippi River bridge.
Amnesty International said Antonio Richardson, 26, would be the second person executed in 40 years in the United States for a crime committed at 16 or younger.
With the execution hours away, Richardson looked to the U.S. Supreme Court and to Gov. Bob Holden, who was weighing a request for clemency.
"At this point, I have not seen any additional information that would indicate that we should not go forward," Holden said.
The clemency request said Richardson was 16 at the time of the 1991 killings; his IQ was around 70; and he was born brain-damaged.
Defense attorney Gino Battisti asked the high court for a stay while it determines whether executing the mentally retarded violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition agaainst cruel and unusual punishment.
"I think there is a consensus now against executing the mentally retarded," Battisti said.
Richardson was scheduled to die by injection at 12:01 a.m. at the Potosi Correctional center.
Richardson was convicted for his role in the deaths of Robin Kerry, 19, and her sister Julie, 20.
Richardson and three friends robbed the sisters' 19-year-old cousin, Thomas Cummins, raped the young women, then took all three to a pier. Robin and Julie were pushed off - not by Richardson - and Cummins was ordered to jump into the river, 70 feet below. Cummins swam to safety.
Two of Richardson's friends are now also on death row. A third received a 30-year sentence in exchange for his testimony.
Ginny Kerry, the girls' mother, asked the governor to spare Richardson's life, citing his age and limited mental capacity. Other relatives of the victims, including Kerry's ex-husband, supported the execution.
Groups such as Amnesty International, the Association for Retarded Citizens, Human Rights Watch and the European Union urged the governor to halt the execution.
Amnesty International spokesman Adam Ortiz said the last time a killer was executed in the United States for a crime committed at 16 or younger was in 1999 in Oklahoma.
------------ Joshua 24:15
Stranglehold
Forum Moderator
posts: 182
(3/6/01 5:46:13 pm)
Reply More info?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richardson was convicted for his role in the deaths of Robin Kerry, 19, and her sister Julie, 20.
Richardson and three friends robbed the sisters' 19-year-old cousin, Thomas Cummins, raped the young women, then took all three to a pier. Robin and Julie were pushed off - not by Richardson - and Cummins was ordered to jump into the river, 70 feet below. Cummins swam to safety.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK, I have no problem with Capital Punishment, but what was this person's role in the crime?
I see no mention of it, except that he was just there and pushed no one off of nothing...
Did he participate in the rape? Is this wrong? Did he participate in the murder(s)?
If not, then I see no reason to execute someone because they were "there," especially in light of the fact he was mentally retarded.
I have no proplem with executing the mentally retarded when they are obviously intelligent enough to perform rape, homicide, whatever...
I see nothing in this article that would lead me to believe he should be executed at all.
Any more info?
Stranglehold
Forum Moderator
posts: 183
(3/6/01 5:58:17 pm)
Reply Let me clarify a couple points...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Maryland, there is a debate going on about executing a so-called, "retarded man."
This man has been serving time, off and on since the early to middle 1970s.
After he was released the last time, he was out for 6 days...SIX DAYS.
He lured a 10 year old boy with the promise of purchasing for him Pokemon Cards at a 7-11 in Frederick, Maryland.
They have him on the store's surveillance video, they also have DNA Evidence. It looks like an open and shut case. So, now he has "diminished capacity" and he's "mentally retarded."
This makes no difference to me, even if it is true. He was obviously intelligent enough and had enough "capacity" to think up a ruse to lure the boy away, and the boy, God rest his Soul, was taken to a baseball park, sexually assaulted, then beaten and choked to death.
He did this on his own.
Now, in this case, if this person was of "diminished capacity" but part of a group...what are we to do if he did not participate in the murder?
Have you ever seen how kids treat retarded kids? They are often times "dared, coaxed or goaded" into doing things they would not normally do.
In other words, this person might not be a predator, but truly a victim of circumstance.
I don't know, but this does not sit well with the information provided and I am 100% Pro-Capital Punishment.