Putnam County prosecutors officially announced their intent to seek the death penalty against Henderson under Florida’s 2023 legislation allowing the death penalty for non-homicide child sex crimes.
First toe in the water... on the issue of non-unanimity
I am a retired DP trial lawyer from the 1980s New Orleans Harry Connick regime. I took my share of lumps from his prosecutorial staff who hid the evidence ball, and did other things to reinforce the saying that our OIDP office said: "If you are poor, black, or a past criminal, you are in trouble".
What we didn't have was the breached bulwark of unanimity in verdicts of death - which saved a lot of lives worth saving, so a lot of effort went into convincing the finders of fact that this life on trial, despite all the evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, was still sacred. I would close the murder trial penalty phase argument with "I and my client understand that you are angry that a human life was taken. Why do you then want to take another one, if life is so sacred?"
So, now we are one more set of steps down that steep trail to moral perdition: killing for those who, for whatever reason, are found guilty of (today) "non-homicide child sex crimes". That is, killing for NON-killing crimes proved beyond reasonable doubt. Where, prithee, does it stop? Legislation is not sacred and what gives any of us the right to assume the pretention that it is?
In sum, the death penalty is an ugly carbuncle on the face of American justice and we are all complicit in trying to justify it, because over 1000 DP defendants have been exonerated since 1977 - - but some 1632 have paid the price to the executioner since that time.
This outrage has turned justice on its head. God have mercy on us all.
First toe in the water... on the issue of non-unanimity
I am a retired DP trial lawyer from the 1980s New Orleans Harry Connick regime. I took my share of lumps from his prosecutorial staff who hid the evidence ball, and did other things to reinforce the saying that our OIDP office said: "If you are poor, black, or a past criminal, you are in trouble".
What we didn't have was the breached bulwark of unanimity in verdicts of death - which saved a lot of lives worth saving, so a lot of effort went into convincing the finders of fact that this life on trial, despite all the evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, was still sacred. I would close the murder trial penalty phase argument with "I and my client understand that you are angry that a human life was taken. Why do you then want to take another one, if life is so sacred?"
So, now we are one more set of steps down that steep trail to moral perdition: killing for those who, for whatever reason, are found guilty of (today) "non-homicide child sex crimes". That is, killing for NON-killing crimes proved beyond reasonable doubt. Where, prithee, does it stop? Legislation is not sacred and what gives any of us the right to assume the pretention that it is?
In sum, the death penalty is an ugly carbuncle on the face of American justice and we are all complicit in trying to justify it, because over 1000 DP defendants have been exonerated since 1977 - - but some 1632 have paid the price to the executioner since that time.
This outrage has turned justice on its head. God have mercy on us all.
Phil Johnson
AF 11384275
💯 Thank you for your comment and for calling out the gross hypocrisy.