The State of Tennesse is currently wrapped up in one of the most bizzare death penalty cases ever. The worst part is that its been going on for 21 years!
In 1979 Robert Glen Coe kidnapped, raped and murdered 8 year old Cary Ann Medlin of Greenfield, TN. Coe was convicted and sentenced to death in 1981.
For most of the next 18 years Coe's lawyers put in appeal after appeal without any success other than to delay the enevitable.
However, last year they came up with a strange new twist. They claimed that Coe had gone completely insane in prison and could no longer understand what was going to happen to him. Therefore, to execute him would be Cruel and Unusual punishment.
When he got his day in court, Coe pulled out all the stops. He screamed, cussed, spit and generally raised hell until the judge finally had him bound, gagged and tied to his chair. Wisely, the Judge in the U.S. District court in Memphis was not impressed.
Coe's conviction stood and he was ruled competent to be executed. The execution was scheduled to happen at 1:00am tomorrow morning.
But, it ain't over yet! Yesterday Coe's attorney filled a petition for a stay of execution based on an obscure Tennesse law which requires the defense lawyers to leave the prison one hour before the penalty is carried out. The new claim is that due to Coe's insanity, he feels he must have his lawyer present right up to the moment of execution just in case there are any last minute legal decisions to be made. What's worse is that they got a U.S. District Appeals Court judge in Nashville to issue the stay "until she can review all the material and make a ruling". The execution is now on indefinate hold.
Now get this. The petition for the stay, the judge granting it, the prosecutions petition to reverse the order and the U.S. Supreme Courts decision not to review the case all took place today in just a matter of a few hours VIA E-MAIL! Ain't technology grand.
Is this guy crazy? Well he did rape and murder an 8 year old girl, I'd say that qualifies as definately nuts. Should he be executed for his crime? Hell yes! Should a system that allows such lunacy to go on for year after year be changed? Most definatley? And probably the greatest injustice of all is that the parents of little Cary Ann Medlin are still victims after 21 years.
There is no justice anymore.
------------------
Politically, Fashionably and Aerodynamically Incorrect!
In 1979 Robert Glen Coe kidnapped, raped and murdered 8 year old Cary Ann Medlin of Greenfield, TN. Coe was convicted and sentenced to death in 1981.
For most of the next 18 years Coe's lawyers put in appeal after appeal without any success other than to delay the enevitable.
However, last year they came up with a strange new twist. They claimed that Coe had gone completely insane in prison and could no longer understand what was going to happen to him. Therefore, to execute him would be Cruel and Unusual punishment.
When he got his day in court, Coe pulled out all the stops. He screamed, cussed, spit and generally raised hell until the judge finally had him bound, gagged and tied to his chair. Wisely, the Judge in the U.S. District court in Memphis was not impressed.
Coe's conviction stood and he was ruled competent to be executed. The execution was scheduled to happen at 1:00am tomorrow morning.
But, it ain't over yet! Yesterday Coe's attorney filled a petition for a stay of execution based on an obscure Tennesse law which requires the defense lawyers to leave the prison one hour before the penalty is carried out. The new claim is that due to Coe's insanity, he feels he must have his lawyer present right up to the moment of execution just in case there are any last minute legal decisions to be made. What's worse is that they got a U.S. District Appeals Court judge in Nashville to issue the stay "until she can review all the material and make a ruling". The execution is now on indefinate hold.
Now get this. The petition for the stay, the judge granting it, the prosecutions petition to reverse the order and the U.S. Supreme Courts decision not to review the case all took place today in just a matter of a few hours VIA E-MAIL! Ain't technology grand.
Is this guy crazy? Well he did rape and murder an 8 year old girl, I'd say that qualifies as definately nuts. Should he be executed for his crime? Hell yes! Should a system that allows such lunacy to go on for year after year be changed? Most definatley? And probably the greatest injustice of all is that the parents of little Cary Ann Medlin are still victims after 21 years.
There is no justice anymore.
------------------
Politically, Fashionably and Aerodynamically Incorrect!
