New specialists delve deep to keep convicts off death row

"...Death penalties can be -- and have been -- thrown out in Lehigh County and across the country because lawyers didn't do ''reasonable'' investigations that could have meant the difference between life and death....."

Or, in other words, if a defense lawyer is deliberatley negligent, they can get their clent off death row by NOT DOING ANYTHING, then the scum can have their death penality case thrown out and live off the taxpayer in prision the rest of their lives...

this is a joke and i am darn angry that my tax dollars goes to finding some freak who can help a murder get out of the death penalty because his mom had a hard pregnancy. Give me a F'n break.

The court system and the Law continue to make a joke of its self and we end up paying for them to do so. i was born with a hole in my heart and had a medically tough childhood but I havent gone around killing people.

Everyone has tough times and we dont all go out looking to end the life of another because of it. All these so called experst want to do anymore is label everyone with some mental disorder. Maybe its the experts that have the disorder. This country is going to hell in a handbacket and its because of these lawyers and other so called experts who tell you they know what is going on in anothers mind and why they do certain things. What are they GOD now? maybe they can testify as to what was going on in the victims mind before he or she was murdered? Lets see them pull that one off. Noone ever thinks of the victim or their family. I can assure you if someone ever does something like that to my kids they wont need a jury for them because they wont get that far. I wont turn my family memebers right to justice over to some flake who thinks a bad moment in a persons childhood is a good reason for why they murder someone else and then should get off without captial punishment.

David-1206 wrote:

"...Death penalties can be -- and have been -- thrown out in Lehigh County and across the country because lawyers didn't do ''reasonable'' investigations that could have meant the difference between life and death....."
Or, in other words, if a defense lawyer is deliberatley negligent, they can get their clent off death row by NOT DOING ANYTHING, then the scum can have their death penality case thrown out and live off the taxpayer in prision the rest of their lives...

its a joke isnt it. This kind of junk just ticks me off. Like you said we all end up paying for it.

Public gallows every 90 days. Hang 'em high and hang 'em quick.

The 8 conspirators with John Wiles Booth hung 4 months after Lincolns assisinatin.

I say abolish mitigation. I don't care if you had a rough childhood or your father was never around to play ball with you. I am sure those mitigators can find any little thing and embelish it to make the offender look like he had it rough. Everyone had problems growing up no matter who you are.

The fact is you were found guilty of taking another's life and now you should pay the ultimate price.

The victim's rights are gettting overloooked and it's not fair to his surviving family and friends. It is them who should have the decision on whether the accused lives or dies. They are the ones who know best what the dead would want, not the 12 people of the jury.

Let the accused talk to the jury and/or family to defend himself.

Plus, why don't courts keep the death penalty sentence until "what they call" adequate defense is presented to show the jury otherwise. It is totally wrong. The defendent was already convicted and sentenced to death, he/she should have to prove their leniancy on appeal, not the public prove the death sentence again.

Another waste of tax payers money!An eye for an eye should be the punishment.Get a grip people! Maybe that would help Allentown and other destroyed cities with these wanna be thugs and illegal immagrants.

Beavis wrote:

Public gallows every 90 days. Hang 'em high and hang 'em quick.
The 8 conspirators with John Wiles Booth hung 4 months after Lincolns assisinatin.

AND the Lincoln conspirators were executed the day after they were found guilty!

That taxpayer money should be used to keep people off death row is a disgrace; at the VERY least, it should be voluntary on the part of the taxpayers - you know, like those little boxes you check on your income tax, "do you want part of your refund to go to 'whatever'", etc. And as for things like growing up in abusive home, having an alcoholic for a parent, etc., being reasons for choosing a criminal lifestyle? Those are EXCUSES, not reasons. Countless numbers of people rise above bad childhoods and go on to live perfectly normal lives. Crime rates in this country have gone through the roof ever since our society started this "criminal as victim" nonsense.

It is so much a waste of taxpayers dollars that it makes me sick and should make all of us sick of it enough to do something about it. I'm so tired of lawyers making big bucks on defending killers. The victims and their families/loved ones have no rights. It's pathetic to have out tax dollars go to feed a creep who killed our loved ones. The death penality means we still could support their miserable butts for 10 years or more. The whole system is so lawyers can make big bucks while the victims families have to deal with the grief of their loved one being murdered. The system stinks!

Free trip to Puerto Rico, spending a lot of time with the accused, all on taxpayer money,,,CHA CHING!!!

That's it, I'm going into the public sector. I'm tired of pulling my own weight. Let others pay for my trips to tropical Islands to "study and interview".

Just venting here folks,,,,simply disgusted with this part of the judicial process.

FOUND GUILTY, GIVEN DEATH, take them out back and shoot them. We all make choices, every moment of our life. Because someone is a POS, I've got to take care of him for life bull ship.

Yea, Pat yourself on the back for saving murdering scum for what they deserve.

Can you imagine how the families of the victims of these criminals feel, knowing that their tax dollars are going to be used to try to prevent their loved ones' killers from being executed? Does anyone in our court system care how THEY feel? Probably not.

Why bother?? No one ever actually gets executed anyway!! The death penalty is a joke.

wow wrote:

this is a joke and i am darn angry that my tax dollars goes to finding some freak who can help a murder get out of the death penalty because his mom had a hard pregnancy. Give me a F'n break.
The court system and the Law continue to make a joke of its self and we end up paying for them to do so. i was born with a hole in my heart and had a medically tough childhood but I havent gone around killing people.
Everyone has tough times and we dont all go out looking to end the life of another because of it. All these so called experst want to do anymore is label everyone with some mental disorder. Maybe its the experts that have the disorder. This country is going to hell in a handbacket and its because of these lawyers and other so called experts who tell you they know what is going on in anothers mind and why they do certain things. What are they GOD now? maybe they can testify as to what was going on in the victims mind before he or she was murdered? Lets see them pull that one off. Noone ever thinks of the victim or their family. I can assure you if someone ever does something like that to my kids they wont need a jury for them because they wont get that far. I wont turn my family memebers right to justice over to some flake who thinks a bad moment in a persons childhood is a good reason for why they murder someone else and then should get off without captial punishment.

I have agree with what you said.
I too have medical problems and also had quite a few bad memories, but I am not going out to kill those of bad memories, as well of those in present.

Learn to deal with it and learn how to work your problems out. If you have to, go to the bible and prayer to God for assistance. The way things are going in this country is a way to get people on Satan's side of Life - the tricks of the trade Satan does.

A life is a life .. I don't care what type of childhood a person had, they know the basic difference between right and wrong and consequences .. more BS by defense attorneys .. and to top it off Clark has political aspirations .. what a joke !!! Vote NO to clark for anything ...

How come the legal system never comes up with new "specialists" individuals to help the victims? It's always the for the accused. It seems like they go out of their way to defend the perp than to protect the victim. Nice system we have in place.

All thanks to Glenn Clark because "he thinks he's a pretty good laywer" .. What a JOKE ...

Earlier this year, the court ordered that the county pay $1,721 to Cindy D. Rowe for her mitigation work on Rivera's case before Pautrat was hired.

The court said the county would pay Pautrat $75 an hour for services, not to exceed $5,000, and her round-trip airfare from Philadelphia to Puerto Rico and car rental costs.

In June, the court authorized the county to pay $5,000 to Hamilton Township, N.J., neuropsychologist Jonathan H. Mack and $3,500 to Dr. Robert L. Sadoff, a Jenkintown, Montgomery County, psychiatrist, for evaluating Rivera for the defense. Dr. Paul Gross, a forensic psychiatrist, was paid $1,200.

Rivera needs to meet ole sparky ..........

Brian wrote:

Why bother?? No one ever actually gets executed anyway!! The death penalty is a joke.

Thank you. I was going to say the same thing. If we never execute anybody, what difference does the death penalty make? It amounts to life in prison. The only difference is the possibility of parole.

And alot of money wated on 50+ appeals. What a joke!

emjoy wrote:

<quoted text>
Thank you. I was going to say the same thing. If we never execute anybody, what difference does the death penalty make? It amounts to life in prison. The only difference is the possibility of parole.