Yeah, that's a weird one. It got surprisingly little coverage down here until after the stay was issued. My prediction for the outcome is that they require a new sentencing hearing, where he'll once again be sentenced to death, except fairly this time, and in 4 or 5 years they'll mainline him. There'll certainly be some uproar over spending more time and money on a guy who's guilt is nearly certain, as the people who tend to support capital punishment don't tend to get complex issues like it can be wrong to unfairly execute a guilty man. The biggest question mark I see is the current make-up of the SCOTUS, which as a rule seem to have absolutely zero regard for procedural due process.
Something that's actually rather important to note in this case, is that it's yet another instance of Rick Perry having absolutely no concept of how things are supposed to work in this country. Like the aforementioned people lacking the ability to see complex issues for what they are, he invariably jumps to the notion that only the outcome matters. In the Cameron Todd Willingham case, my problem isn't really that he was not guilty*, mistakes happen, but that Perry has steadfastly defended the execution on the basis that Willingham was a monster--in his opinion. This is a very similar issue, and one like many others, where Perry is willing to disregard this country's fundamental principles to accomplish whatever it is that he, personally, thinks is right. Bad dude.
*The man might very well have done it, but he wasn't legally guilty by a long shot.
Topic: Weird situation regarding a last-minute stay of execution (Read 1292 times)