Sandy
06-05-2002, 12:21 PM
The U.S. Supreme Court apparently had no stomach for the state of Texas' argument that the capital murder conviction of Calvin Burdine should stand despite the fact his lawyer slept through parts of his trial.
It threw out the state's appeal Monday with no explanation. And why should it need to explain anything? The injustice was so obvious that only those absolutely determined to uphold a capital murder conviction no matter what would defend it -- the prosecutors, of course, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Calvin Burdine was accused of stabbing to death his gay lover, W.T. Wise, 50, in 1983. He initially confessed the crime to police but later denied it. Burdine now claims an accomplice, Douglas McCreight, killed Wise despite his own efforts to talk him out of it. (McCreight pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 45 years; he was released on parole after less than 8 years in prison.)
A jury convicted Burdine of capital murder in 1984.
Later, in 1995, a state court found that Joe Cannon had slept during significant parts of his murder trial and recommended Burdine get a new hearing. But the Court of Criminal Appeals said Burdine had failed to show that he had been harmed by his lawyer's sleeping. (We wonder what the 9 judges on that court would do to a lawyer who, during oral argument, slept in their presence.)
Burdine's appeal then entered the federal court system. A federal district judge upheld his claim of inadequate counsel because of his sleeping lawyer, but a 3-judge panel of 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, on a 2-1 vote, with the state. But then the entire panel of 5th Circuit judges ruled 9-5 in Burdine's favor, and the state appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, thanks in part to the presidential campaign of then-Gov. George W. Bush, the case drew astonished mockery from outsiders who could hardly believe that in a case where a man's life was at stake, it was somehow OK for his lawyer to sleep during portions of the trial.
Now, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, Burdine will likely get a new trial. There's good reason to think he was at least involved in the murder, and we hope he's tried again.
As for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, we would like to see it develop a gag reflex when it is served injustice, but apparently it can swallow any guilty verdict.
(source: Editorial, Austin American-Statesman)
It threw out the state's appeal Monday with no explanation. And why should it need to explain anything? The injustice was so obvious that only those absolutely determined to uphold a capital murder conviction no matter what would defend it -- the prosecutors, of course, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Calvin Burdine was accused of stabbing to death his gay lover, W.T. Wise, 50, in 1983. He initially confessed the crime to police but later denied it. Burdine now claims an accomplice, Douglas McCreight, killed Wise despite his own efforts to talk him out of it. (McCreight pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 45 years; he was released on parole after less than 8 years in prison.)
A jury convicted Burdine of capital murder in 1984.
Later, in 1995, a state court found that Joe Cannon had slept during significant parts of his murder trial and recommended Burdine get a new hearing. But the Court of Criminal Appeals said Burdine had failed to show that he had been harmed by his lawyer's sleeping. (We wonder what the 9 judges on that court would do to a lawyer who, during oral argument, slept in their presence.)
Burdine's appeal then entered the federal court system. A federal district judge upheld his claim of inadequate counsel because of his sleeping lawyer, but a 3-judge panel of 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, on a 2-1 vote, with the state. But then the entire panel of 5th Circuit judges ruled 9-5 in Burdine's favor, and the state appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, thanks in part to the presidential campaign of then-Gov. George W. Bush, the case drew astonished mockery from outsiders who could hardly believe that in a case where a man's life was at stake, it was somehow OK for his lawyer to sleep during portions of the trial.
Now, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, Burdine will likely get a new trial. There's good reason to think he was at least involved in the murder, and we hope he's tried again.
As for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, we would like to see it develop a gag reflex when it is served injustice, but apparently it can swallow any guilty verdict.
(source: Editorial, Austin American-Statesman)