Hank Skinner, a death row inmate, was sentanced to death on the account of murdering 3 people in the first degree. However, after a plea that went all the way to the suprem cout, he has bought himself more time by saying that DNA has been withheld by the state and not propperly tested. The argument against letting the DNA be tested was that it could really just be used as a way to buy time.
I think that it is good that the court ruled on the side of the defendent. We must be as lenient as possible when dealing with the matters of life and death. The laws say that one cannot only be convicted and punished when the defendent has been proven guilty beyon a reasonable doubt, and the right to live must be protected as carefully as possible by those who make and interpret the law. The amount of time that might be gained according to the opposition by the delay created in administering the penalty is negligble compared to the chances that an innocent man may be executed. All that being said, it would have made more sense if the DNA had been tested earlier and this could have saved a lot of time and trouble.
original article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41949275/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
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