"We have lost our ambition, our imagination, and our willingness to do the things that built the Golden Gate Bridge" - Barack Obama (aka President Malaise)
Pitch in with the Prince William Young Republicans and help defeat Obama in 2012!
Powell Escapes The Chair, At Least Temporarily
By Greg L | 13 July 2009 | National Politics, Crime, Prince William County | 13 Comments
The execution of Paul Warner Powell, scheduled for Tuesday has been stayed by the United States Supreme Court pending the disposition of a writ of certiorari. Powell’s lawyers are claiming he was tried twice for the same crime, a really tenuous argument, especially given that when Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert dropped the ball on the first prosecution of the case Powell confessed to a more serious crime than he was originally charged with in a bizarre letter he wrote to Ebert. Now the Supreme Court picks up this case, and will determine whether Powell gets the chair as he said he wanted, or whether the victims and family will have to live knowing that Powell gets an albeit uncomfirtable hotel room courtesy of the taxpayers for the rest of his life.
I find it interesting that this comes just as the hearings on appointing Sotomayor to the bench are gearing up. I’ve little doubt she would find a convenient way to excuse this piece of garbage from execution if confirmed, although there are likely plenty of others on the court who would join her in doing so. Would Sotomayor be more likely to stay this execution than Justice Souter, who she would replace?
The opinions expressed here are solely the views of the author, and not representative of the position of any organization, political party, doughnut shop, knitting guild, or waste recycling facility, but may be correctly attributed to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. If anything in the above article has offended you, please click here to receive an immediate apology.
You can follow the discussion through the Comments feed. You can also pingback or trackback from your own site.
13 Comments
Views: 1088
Loading ...
This maggot is white. Sodomizer would fry him.
Didn’t the SCOTUS go on summer break? Have you heard how long until there is a decission?? He needs to fry!!!!!
they could easily give the decision during the summer, however many of them are abroad teaching and due to the nature of this case I highly doubt they’ll turn it down. they’ll hear this one for sure, I’ve been wrong before but I highly suspect we’ll see this guy wait for awhile.
it was the chief justice who issued the stay I believe, they need time to decide this. as much as I want this guy to ride the lightning, it’s important they do it right.
I don’t know the details of the process for death penalty reviews, but one Justice can issue a stay, “me,” and the Justices are always available for death penalty cases, even when in “recess.” And they won’t hear arguments except under extraordinary circumstances during the summer, “chameleon.” They may well turn it down — it takes four votes to grant certiorari — but that is unlikely to be decided much before the first day of the new Term, which opens on the first Monday in October. However, depending on the briefing schedule — set by Court rules — an order on the petition for a writ of certiorari may be issued in late September.
For a little more information (I just checked the Court’s website), the Court granted reargument two weeks ago in the Citizens United case, and set reargument for September, which is most unusual (as is reargument). The stay — issued by Chief Justice Roberts — terminates automatically if certiorari is denied.
Justice Roberts issued the stay. Interesting. Where’s your outrage now, good people of bvbl?
Oh, and, Karla — Sodomizer…such a clever nickname. You should be proud! Did you come up with that yourself, or is it a HannityLimbaughMalkin special?
here for the laughs…
outrage? I think we should be proud, justice roberts is doing his job…that’s what WE pay him to do. everyone wants this fool dead, but they want him dead the right way and if there is any question about it legally then he’ll just have to wait a little while.
He should have been executed a day or two after he committed the crime.
Laughs- just for the sake of arguing - suppose your were a Supreme Court Justice - and you had to rule on this case - how would you rule?
Justice Roberts issued a stay in this case because it’s a case in which the perp so clearly deserves the harshest penalty the law can mete. Therefore, it will be easier for the bleeding hearts on the bench to buy into a decision that says the facts of this case do not constitute double jeopardy.
Don’t blame the Supremes for doing their job. Ebert should have gotten this right from the git go.
Here for the Laughs on 13 Jul 2009 at 10:40 pm: Flag co
Are they laughing at you or with you?
This is a total shame and I feel for this family. However, my question is why is Mr. Ebert being blamed for this hiccup? Assuming he had no evidence of the attempted rape in the first place, Powell would have only been eligible for the sentence he received in the first place. In addition, this seems to me to be a situation where equal minds could disagree. I have read this case for awhile now and I have to tell you I would have considered the rape and attempted murder of the sister as part of the same crime, although I am not a lawyer. The original judge and jury saw it that way. I am just saying blaming Mr. Ebert for this seems a little harsh to me, especially since it is no secret that GL and most people dislike him so much. It is easy to second guess someone when you are not the one who has to handle one of the most horrific cases in Prince William County history
For what it is worth, I think it is difficult to blame Ebert for this situation. Justice Holmes observed that “hard cases make bad law,” and this would seem to be one of them.
Some will blame Ebert no matter whether it’s deserved or not. Their hatred for him is so blatantly obvious that they’ll do whatever it takes to drag his name through mud. Ebert did the best he could with the evidence he had at the time. The decision from the Va Supreme court allowed Paul Powell to mistakenly believe he could write the taunting letter that of course was his biggest mistake. Hopefully the US Supreme court will do the right thing and quickly get Powell back on the fast track to the chair.