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ORIGINAL: flcouple2009

Stop that.  Don't make me have to agree with you this evening.

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ORIGINAL: tazzygirl

Mike, what i meant is that the current cases typically already include dna evidence.

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According to the Innocence Project, “only a fraction of criminal cases involve biological evidence that can be subjected to DNA testing, and even when such evidence exists, it is often lost or destroyed after a conviction. Since they don’t have access to a definitive test like DNA, many wrongfully convicted people have a slim chance of ever proving their innocence.”

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In Georgia, a man named Troy Davis currently sits on death row for the murder of a police officer in Savannah – also a horrible crime. Davis’ conviction consisted solely of eyewitness testimony, yet since trial 7 of the 9 eyewitnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony – casting serious doubt on the evidence that was used to convict him. Despite the strong evidence indicating that he may be innocent, Davis has now faced three execution dates, once coming within 2 hours of death, and remains at risk of execution. Unlike in Bloodsworth’s case, there is no DNA evidence available with which to prove Davis’ guilt or innocence.

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DNA exonerations represent only 12% of the total list of 116 cases. In 88% of the cases, attorneys and courts had to rely on other forms of evidence...

Many states have not passed legislation guaranteeing the right to DNA testing. Even where this right is protected by statute, such as in Texas, there are stringent limits on its use and inmates have been refused testing where the results might have affected the death sentence, even if not the determination of their guilt.

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"The DNA testing and evidence only occurs in a situation where the assailant leaves biological evidence behind. For the most part, we are talking about rape cases where there is semen left that can be tested. There are occasionally non-rape cases where the assailant may have left behind hair fragments or fingernail fragments that are of a sufficient quantity that they can be tested for DNA. But if no biological evidence is left behind, which is what occurs in most cases in the criminal justice system, no DNA testing can occur. The second qualifier is: even among those cases where there is biological evidence left behind that can be tested, if it is not gathered and collected and preserved properly, you will end up with a false test.

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ORIGINAL: Kirata

~ FR ~

I can understand that some people view the execution of felons convicted of first degree homicide to be "state sanctioned murder," and I can understand that some people view the performance of elective late-term abortions to be "state sanctioned murder," but what I can't understand is why they're not the same people.

K.

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ORIGINAL: juliaoceania

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/dna-evidence-won-t-save-innocent-people-from-death-penalty

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According to the Innocence Project, “only a fraction of criminal cases involve biological evidence that can be subjected to DNA testing, and even when such evidence exists, it is often lost or destroyed after a conviction. Since they don’t have access to a definitive test like DNA, many wrongfully convicted people have a slim chance of ever proving their innocence.”

quote:

In Georgia, a man named Troy Davis currently sits on death row for the murder of a police officer in Savannah – also a horrible crime. Davis’ conviction consisted solely of eyewitness testimony, yet since trial 7 of the 9 eyewitnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony – casting serious doubt on the evidence that was used to convict him. Despite the strong evidence indicating that he may be innocent, Davis has now faced three execution dates, once coming within 2 hours of death, and remains at risk of execution. Unlike in Bloodsworth’s case, there is no DNA evidence available with which to prove Davis’ guilt or innocence.

http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001189

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DNA exonerations represent only 12% of the total list of 116 cases. In 88% of the cases, attorneys and courts had to rely on other forms of evidence...

Many states have not passed legislation guaranteeing the right to DNA testing. Even where this right is protected by statute, such as in Texas, there are stringent limits on its use and inmates have been refused testing where the results might have affected the death sentence, even if not the determination of their guilt.

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"The DNA testing and evidence only occurs in a situation where the assailant leaves biological evidence behind. For the most part, we are talking about rape cases where there is semen left that can be tested. There are occasionally non-rape cases where the assailant may have left behind hair fragments or fingernail fragments that are of a sufficient quantity that they can be tested for DNA. But if no biological evidence is left behind, which is what occurs in most cases in the criminal justice system, no DNA testing can occur. The second qualifier is: even among those cases where there is biological evidence left behind that can be tested, if it is not gathered and collected and preserved properly, you will end up with a false test.

And there is plenty more info on that site

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As of November 2008, 130 people have been exonerated from death row in the United States. DNA testing has resulted in 225 exonerations, mostly in non-capital cases, and these numbers continue to rise. The advent of DNA has helped tremendously in its ability to prove guilt or innocence, and has been instrumental in overturning many wrongful convictions. The thing is, every man and woman who has proven that they were wrongfully convicted will tell you that they are actually the lucky ones. They will tell you that there are others like them who are still in prison – and others like them for whom it is now too late, for they have been executed.

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in its June 26, 2002 article "DNA Testing and the Death Penalty," posted on www.aclu.org, wrote:
"The increasing use of DNA testing to help confirm the innocence or guilt in capital cases is one among many reforms that will help ensure that innocent people are not sentenced to death.
...Unique to an individual (except in the case of identical twins and bone marrow transplant recipients), unchanging throughout one's life, and found in all one's cells, DNA is a reliable identifier. DNA testing on biological samples such as skin, saliva, semen, blood or hair can help convict or exonerate with great accuracy. But only if the biological evidence is properly collected, preserved and kept from contamination. And only if the analysis is done correctly. Under those conditions DNA testing is the modern improved version of fingerprinting."

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A remarkable feature of DNA testing is that it not only helps to convict but also serves to exonerate. A 1995 survey of laboratories reported that DNA testing excluded suspects in about one-fourth to one-fifth of the cases...These suspects were fortunate: Before the advent of DNA testing they might have been indicted on the basis of an eyewitness' statement or other evidence and possibly been convicted on the basis of such proof."

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ORIGINAL: Kirata

~ FR ~

I can understand that some people view the execution of felons convicted of first degree homicide to be "state sanctioned murder," and I can understand that some people view the performance of elective late-term abortions to be "state sanctioned murder," but what I can't understand is why they're not the same people.

K.

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ORIGINAL: juliaoceania

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ORIGINAL: tazzygirl

Mike, what i meant is that the current cases typically already include dna evidence.

Not all cases have DNA evidence....

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ORIGINAL: jlf1961

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ORIGINAL: juliaoceania

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ORIGINAL: tazzygirl

Mike, what i meant is that the current cases typically already include dna evidence.

Not all cases have DNA evidence....

I suggested that you research the Petit case. The two men beat the husband and left him for dead, raped and strangled the wife, then raped the 11 year old daughter, then tied the two daughters to their beds and set the house on fire. The two girls were still alive.

The police caught them coming out of the home.

Now, what would you do, put them in a crowded prison for life? Personally, I think they should be executed in the same way they killed the two girls, being burned alive.

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ORIGINAL: Kirata

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ORIGINAL: jlf1961

Now, what would you do, put them in a crowded prison for life?

One of the things that has always struck me as crazy about imprisoning inhuman felons like this, is that after they've raped and killed your wife, your daughters, six sheep, and the dog, "their punishment" is that you get to pay for their housing, food, and medical care for the rest of their life.

K.