Samuel David Crow “killed store manager Joseph Pala during a robbery at the lumber company in Douglas County, west of Atlanta. Crowe, who had previously worked at the store, shot Pala three times with a pistol, beat him with a crowbar and a pot of paint.”
There seems to be no doubt about his guilt or about the severity of his crime. Crowe pled guilty. In May, 2008, he was about to be strapped in and given a lethal injection. But the parole board gave him a break, commuting his sentence to life in prison.
Why did he get off? “….. his lawyers presented a dossier of evidence attesting to his remorse and good behavior in jail … The lawyers also said he was suffering from withdrawal symptoms from a cocaine addiction at the time of the crime.” Poor baby.
I’m thinking his being a white guy helped, what do you think? Maybe not. Who knows. Just sayin’
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Seriously? A man who beat a guy with a crowbar before shooting him is named Samuel David Crow?
Sam Crow?
SAMCRO?
I’m almost certain I’ve seen that episode.
Don’t care. Really. I’m glad he’s still alive and won’t be murdered.
Death penalties do nothing but satisfy a sense of vengeance, so stopping the execution is always a good thing.
I think the point Mr. Laden is trying to make is that here is a clear cut case of someone committing a terrible crime that was let off. Yet several cases (Troy Davis most recently), likely innocent people have been executed in spite of the doubt (with notable people such as G.W. Bush and Rick Perry seemingly proud of the fact that they refused to commute their sentences despite the strong doubt). Check out http://www.innocenceproject.org/ or http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/
Story continued…
“In related news, Georgia officials formally announced that the state had officially exhausted its supply of shame. ‘We have to face facts,” said one staffer speaking on condition of anonymity ‘Georgia just doesn’t have any shame whatsoever. Completely out.’
“Plans to request a shame bailout from Congress was complicated when GOP House leaders were discovered not to have any shame either. Requests for comment from John Boehner were answered by him flipping us the bird and clubbing a welfare recipient to death with the Bill of Rights wrapped around the Tax Code.”
Georgia can accurately be described as a black dot on a white sheet of paper. Atlanta has a large black population, the rest is mostly white or social and political power is.
Savannah is rural Georgia which is mostly white, and Davis was black.
Douglas County, where Crow committed murder, borders Atlanta which is mostly black.
A comparison of how often the “death penalty” is given at trial compared to the skin colour of the defendant and victim:
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/fig5.gif
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/death-penalty-black-and-white-who-lives-who-dies-who-decides
I wouldn’t doubt that Crow “found gawd” and used it as an excuse to save his neck, vis-a-vis Terry Nichols.
.