Introduction
My stand is that citizens should never be executed. Executing a citizen amount to a gross violation of ethics and it brings more harm than correction. In the emotional perspective, execution of a citizen leaves a mark that cannot be erased on hearts of persons close to the executed person, it can never heal. Rather than being a corrective means, it turns out as a traumatizing experience to the family members of the executed; it can take a very long time for them to recover and come into terms with the reality. Capital punishment can very effectively be replaced by life imprisonment, which though separates the prisoners from their family, is less grievous. The state often uses capital punishment on suspects as an example to warn people with ill intentions of places their acts can land them into, this stance should be reconsidered owing to the emotional turmoil brought about by execution on those close to the executed persons. Evidence has also shown that several investigations have cleared several to-be victims of capital punishment, however, once executed, the case can never be reversed and hence it amounts to murder of innocent citizens by the state.
Article review
In this article, we see a case of an innocent citizen executed. The events of the article start unfolding as the house of the victim Cameron Todd Willingham, goes off in flames, with his three daughters perishing in the inferno. Investigations on the cause of the fire ensue, with the main investigators being Vasquez and Fogg, their investigations point out that the inferno was an arson case since they find out that a liquid accelerant was used to start the flame, because it burnt low for some time. Being the only person present at the scene, Todd Willingham is pointed out as the key suspect by the investigators. The jury uses the past evidence of disagreement with his wife Stacy, to indicate Willingham as culpable for the Arson. He is charged with three counts of murder of his three daughters, who the jury indicates from his evidence as having been a barrier in his drinking life, he argues the assailant committed the crime in an attempt to make his life easier.
Willingham’s innocence plea lands on deaf ears; he is placed in the penitentiary to await his execution during which period he tries to file appeals with the courts only to be denied. The judges argue that the evidence on his case is irrevocable. He appeals even to the high court but he is turned away citing his case as having enough evidence to validate the sentence given to him. However, Willingham knowing his innocence does not give up; he goes on fighting hoping that his innocence will be realized one day and that he will eventually be vindicated and walk free. In his unrelenting fight for justice, he meets Elizabeth Gilbert, a pen pal who carries several investigations about the case, although she is doubtful and goes silent, she has a notion that Willingham was charged for a crime he did not commit.
Willingham’s hopes of surviving the sentence deteriorate after all his appeals are turned down. However, his family members continue with the quest to have the sentence withdrawn. They approach Dr. Gilbert Hurst, an outspoken scientist who accepts their plea to investigate the evidence against Willingham to point out flaws. On completing his investigation, Hurst finds out that the evidence against Willingham was highly flawed. For example, he rules out use of an accelerant, which Fogg and Vasquez attributed to the prior burning low of the fire. The scientist indicates that a fire in the flashover stage usually portrays such characteristics and that prior experiments refute their evidence. Hurst takes time to write his final report on the findings in haste before the remaining time for Willingham lapsed. However, his attempt to save Willingham on fair grounds is turned down. The judges never took time to weigh the new evidence citing that the prior evidence warrants the sentence.
Attempts of the renowned scientist, Hurst to save Willingham fail. The day for his execution draws near and he receives a call to notify him of that. When finally the day unfolds, Willingham is taken to the execution chamber where he meets his death through chemical poisoning. After the execution, questions about the scientific evidence on Willingham’s case begin to surface. This draws the interest of many parties including scientists who seek to throw their two cents into the whole bizarre situation. Investigations that ensue from the events that unfold refute the evidence used in the case as totally unscientific. Investigators disqualify the facts used by Fogg and Vasquez as having no scientific value. It comes out clearly that Willingham as many other Victims of the execution sentence are murdered innocently. What turmoil this discovery brings to those who used to be close to Willingham, only themselves can tell.
Therefore, Willingham dies for a crime he did not commit. Nothing could be done on discovery that the evidence was flawed and that Willingham did not stand guilty since the execution had already taken place. The family members of Willingham, therefore, had to keep the pain that they went through in hearts till they also die; if there is any justice realized by people once they die. This is evidence as to why the death sentence is not worth it, no human being is worth to condemn another to death, as we all make mistakes that we only realize when it is too late. If a suspect is considered dangerous, he or she should not be executed as contra evidence can come up as proven by this case. If Willingham had not been executed, he would eventually have walked out of his twelve years in jail a free man since he was proven innocent. Associating the emotions during his execution and the truths that came out about the case in the aftermath, death sentence should be stripped for any case.
It is evident that suspects from poor backgrounds are the ones up in the struggle to prove innocence. It is hard for them to fund investigations that would unravel the evidence to ascertain their innocence. Therefore, evidence against the victims cannot be proven final to warrant death sentence as developments on the case can prove those charged as innocent when the death sentence has already taken its course. Suspects charged with Arson and other serious crimes should therefore be held up in the penitentiaries for life, and not given a capital punishment since evidence on their innocence can one day come up, and it is unfortunate when it comes up too late as the families of the executed parties will never forgive the courts, and will forever have no confidence in the justice system.
After reading the article, I totally abhorred death sentence, I see is as a totally inhuman and should not be practiced whatsoever, I felt a lot of sympathy for Willingham as he pleas helplessly till his execution hour comes, and I sympathize with his relatives who experienced the ordeal too. The courts should come up with alternative sentences such as death sentence.
Reference
Grann, D. (2010). The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession. New York: Doubleday, pp 38-78.
