The Collin County Observer

This case is a bit confusing. What happened to the other two people who participated in this crime? Did they just have smarter lawyers and get off scott-free?

As far as Mr. Moore is concerned, the law is the law and there are not to be exceptions. If the highest law in the land states that mentally retarded people are not to be executed then that's it.

What I don't understand is why the Texas Courts wasted the taxpayer's money by trying to get this ruling overturned when it clearly is the law?

It would be interesting to know how much money was wasted in these efforts and just exactly who led the charge and for what reasons.

It would appear that Moore is not the only one afflicted with the unfortunate organic condition of mental retardation in this story.

The Observer replies:

Emma, If memory serves, the other defendants were juveniles.

As to why the State would continue the appeal, the issue revolved around "Was he mentally impaired (retarded) enough to cross the Supreme Court's threshold".

I'll also say the Texas prosecutors tend to vigorously defend death sentences. They hold that if a jury says a man will die for his crimes, then die he must.

It should be noted that death sentences are just about the only sentences that are routinely subject to appellate review based on 'new' law or decisions not in effect at the time of trial. This fact really irks many prosecutors, who try a man based on one set of rules, only to have the jury overturned based on a different, new standard.

I think the real issue and the cause for the endless judicial review is that our society is very much divided on the morality of capital punishment.

I'll let one of our criminal attorneys go into more detail on trying questions of fact vs questions of law. Any takers?

Bill

I don't know a ton about this case, and I'm not a lawyer. But, I can't fault the state for proceeding here with an appeal.

Here is the basic structure of a death penalty case:

1) Crime
2) Arrest, indictment, and trial
3) If convicted, the case automatically appealed on the merits to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (skipping the intermediate court of appeals)
4) The Court of Criminal Appeals rules (presumably affirming), and the loser appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court on the merits.

5) Then, there is a state habeas corpus proceeding which is noramlly where the larger legal questions (like the execution of the mentally ill) are argued. This is at the trial court level.

6) The trial court's ruling is then appealed to the intermediate court of appeals, and then to the criminal court of appeals, and finally to the U.S. Supreme Court., again.

7) Then, there is a application for a writ of habeas corpus filed in the federal system, beginning at the federal district court.

8) Then there is an appeal to the circuit court of appeals, and finally, to the U.S. Supreme Court, yet again.

Now, there can be a lot of variances in procedure. For example, if a defendant becomes mentally ill after convicition, new proceedings to stop the execution take place, etc. But that is the general gist.

After all appeals are over, the prosecutor makes a motion to the original court in which the defendant was convicted to issue a death warrant and set an execution date. The judge does, and then the sheriff serves it on the TDCJ, who carries out the sentence.

It's hard to make the public understand that, at each stage of appeals, there are different arguments made, based in different law (case law, state statute, and/or federal statute/constitution).

So, in reality, many many issues are litigated over the course of a death penalty case, and you can't fault either side for appealing except in rare instances (like the Hood case).

I don't know where in the process this case was (I presume fairly far along), but its hard to say the state wasted money by appealing, when the area of capital punishment law is ever changing.

Heck, a district judge in Harris County recently declared the death penalty illegal, and then vacated his judgment earlier today.

The short answer is, this is a VERY fluid area of the law.

Kenneth Bruce, another adult defendant, was executed. Anthony Bruce, a juvenile, was certified to stand trial as an adult and sentenced to life in prison. Sam Andrews, an adult, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Maybe you should all spend a moment to contemplate the suffering of the Ayers family who was victimized by these four thugs.