Has Ayotte Jeopardized Death Penalty In Murder Case?

Memo to Kelly Ayotte (4.00 / 2)

If Addision's conviction is overturned due to your political ambition and carelessness, you should not only lose this election.  You should forfeit your right to practice law.

Officer Michael Briggs -- a genuine American hero and servant of the citizens of Manchester -- was survived by a wife, two sons, his parents, and three sisters.  They deserve justice.

---

by: Dartmouth Dem @ Sat Oct 16, 2010 at 13:09:03 PM CDT

A distinct possibility, DD (4.00 / 6)

Attorney Volinsky's column raises serious ethics questions about Ms. Ayotte - ones that, in my mind, far outweigh political ethics questions about a mystery bank account or a wood pellet company (though not to diminish those ethical lapses either). Hers go to the very essence of due process and equal justice under the law.

According to several former prosecutors, her professional misconduct in the Addison case appears to run afoul of American Bar Association standards, so if Michael Addison's death sentence is overturned, even in part due to Ms. Ayotte's back-channel politicking in the midst of a capital punishment case, then I would imagine that it is a real possibility that the state's Professional Conduct Committee would examine very carefully whether or not she should hold a license to practice law in New Hampshire.

---

by: Garth Corriveau @ Sat Oct 16, 2010 at 15:04:16 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

It would be a scandal if (4.00 / 4)

the e-mails did NOT make the courts give this sentencing extra scrutiny.

---

by: elwood @ Sat Oct 16, 2010 at 16:24:50 PM CDT

Yup. (4.00 / 1)

In addition, what I'd like to see is some recognition that personal ambition may be just as much of a threat to impartiality as the opportunity for some material reward.  Prosecutors enjoy absolute immunity because they are presumed to be entirely objective in their consideration and presentation of the evidence and facts put together by someone else.  That's a farce.  

---

by: hannah @ Sat Oct 16, 2010 at 17:53:08 PM CDT

We should also (4.00 / 10)

bear in mind that at the same time she was so gung-ho about the capital murder case, the ongoing problems with FRM escaped her notice.

---

by: Jennifer Daler @ Sat Oct 16, 2010 at 19:21:15 PM CDT

bingo n/t (0.00 / 0)

Annie 2012!

---

by: JonnyBBad @ Sat Oct 16, 2010 at 19:35:39 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

And then there is the whole fiscal responsibility thing. (4.00 / 5)

I don't have time to research the exact numbers right now, but my recollection is that, back around last December, the Commission to Study the Death Penalty held a hearing on the costs of prosecuting death penalty cases, versus the cost of a case seeking life imprisonment without parole.  My recollection was that murder trials which involve life without parole typically cost something in the neighborhood of $250,000 to $300,000.  I think the two death penalty cases had cost about $5,000,000 as of last December.  A representative of the AG's office said at that hearing that his office policy was not to put a price on human life.

My recollection of the numbers may be off, but the point here is that whether you are for the death penalty or against it, the numbers are staggering.  

Here's how I see it.  I agree with the point that you cannot put a price on human life.  But there are not enough dollars on the planet to right that particular wrong.  No amount of money is going to bring the deceased back.    So let's throw out that argument.  

The next argument for pursuing the death penalty is to preserve the public safety.  We know we can do that by sentencing to life without parole, at far less cost, even when you factor in the costs of keeping a relatively young offender in prison for the rest of his life.  Death penalty cases typically take well over ten years to work their way through the appeals process.  And unless the defendant is exceedingly well off, the state will wind up funding both the prosecution and the defense.

So that leaves us with retribution.  How much are we willing to pay for retribution?  

One of the things that has to be factored into every budget decision is what else you might be doing with the money.  If Kelly Ayotte, who portrays herself as a fiscal conservative, had chosen NOT to pursue the death penalty in two cases, one of which resulted in the same life sentence that could have been obtained at far less cost, think of what could have been done instead.

Jury trials might have continued uninterrupted, benefitting many people who are waiting for their day in court.  Or funds might have been available to pursue more of the backlog of unsolved murder cases, bringing some member of resolution to families who are still waiting for any justice at all.  Or the taxpayers could simply have been spared a small portion of their tax bill.

Seeking the death penalty--not so much the fiscally conservative thing to do.

---

by: Lucy Weber @ Sat Oct 16, 2010 at 22:27:48 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Whoops--"Measure" of resolution, not "member" (0.00 / 0)

---

by: Lucy Weber @ Sat Oct 16, 2010 at 22:57:31 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Never mind the money. Time is what's in short supply. When our (0.00 / 0)

agents of government and the public are fixated on planning the murder of an individual, more worthwhile things don't get attended to.

What I really object to, other than the injustice of ordering someone to kill another person, is the intimidation factor.  Planning for and putting a person to death aims to communicate to the people that the state has the ultimate power over life and death.  It's the same message that's being tried to be sent via the argument over whether the state should decide whether fetuses live or die.  The core agenda is to let the public know who's the boss.

Deprivation of human rights is supposed to be reserved for punishment that an individual has deserved by depriving another person of his or her rights -- i.e. punishment for a proven crime.  
Deprivation of rights = crime, when it's not in response to a deprivatory act.
Of course, if the agents of government, whose purpose is to promote and protect human rights, take it upon themselves to "prevent" illegal deprivation by depriving the population on a regular basis, making punishment the norm, there's not much left but to resort to the ultimate, death.  In other words, killing however many bad actors is a signal that our whole system of government which is supposed to promote the welfare of the people has gone way off track.

Kelly Ayotte is the very model of a punitive politician who looks upon a public office as an opportunity to punish with impunity.  In her hands, the law is an instrument of subjugation.  

Why do such people get elected?  People like to think that it's the other guy who's going to get the whip -- that the grace of God will protect them.

---

by: hannah @ Sun Oct 17, 2010 at 03:08:45 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Support the penalty (4.00 / 1)

I don't want to get into a debate over the death penalty, but since I posted this diary a couple of the crazies have made up some weird lies about what I said in this diary. I support the death penalty for people who murder police officers. There's a deterrent effect, as well as a punitive purpose. I support the death penalty in this case.  



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

---

by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Sun Oct 17, 2010 at 17:09:27 PM CDT

Teh Crazies (4.00 / 1)

Misdirected outrage at you is what I've seen. How you pointing out the exploitation by Ayotte can be construed as an exploitation is beyond me?

Why don't they yell, "I know you are, but what am I?"

Whack-a-mole, anyone?

---

by: Jack Mitchell @ Sun Oct 17, 2010 at 18:17:20 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

if the NH death penalty (4.00 / 3)

which provides killing people who murder police officers were an effective deterrent, Michael Briggs would still be alive.

Studies show the DP is not a deterrent. Sorry, Kathy. I will honor your wish not to debate this, but we cannot afford the death penalty - morally or fiscally.  

member of the professional left  

---

by: susanthe @ Mon Oct 18, 2010 at 15:00:29 PM CDT

[ Parent ]