One person who may have been wrongly executed was Carlos DeLuna. DeLuna was convicted in 1983 for the fatal stabbing of Texas convenience store clerk Wanda Lopez. He waited six years on death row and was executed by the state of Texas in 1989. However, evidence uncovered by reporters Maurice Possley and Steve Mills has shown that DeLuna was probably not. Evidence points to another suspect: Carlos Hernandez, who had a record of committing similar crimes, and had confessed to the crime repeatedly.
Another person who was most likely wrongfully executed was Claude Jones. He was executed in 2000 for the 1989 murder of a man in a liquor store. He was convicted based on a strand of hair that was thought to be his, which was the only evidence against him. However, tests have shown that the strand of hair was not even his, it was the victim’s. Before Jones’s execution, his lawyers filed for DNA testing of the hair. This technology was not available at the time of Jones’s conviction, but was available in 2000 when he was executed. Apparently, George Bush (who was the governor of Texas at that time) did not even hear about the requests.
Another example of this was the execution of Ellis Wayne Felker. Felker was accused of the 1981 murder of Joy Ludlam, an acquaintance of his. He was put under police surveillance within hours of her disappearance, and was held for 14 days, before the discovery of the body. An autopsy showed that she had been murdered only 5 days prior, during the time Felker was being watched. However, the evidence was changed, Felker went to court, and despite a great deal of evidence that was unlawfully withheld that would have probably proved him innocent, Felker was convicted and executed by the state of Georgia on November 15, 1996.
Because of human error and imperfect technology, the death penalty is too faulty to be left as a system of punishment. Based on these stories, I think it is clear that there needs to be a change in the way we punish our “criminals.”
Another person who was most likely wrongfully executed was Claude Jones. He was executed in 2000 for the 1989 murder of a man in a liquor store. He was convicted based on a strand of hair that was thought to be his, which was the only evidence against him. However, tests have shown that the strand of hair was not even his, it was the victim’s. Before Jones’s execution, his lawyers filed for DNA testing of the hair. This technology was not available at the time of Jones’s conviction, but was available in 2000 when he was executed. Apparently, George Bush (who was the governor of Texas at that time) did not even hear about the requests.
Another example of this was the execution of Ellis Wayne Felker. Felker was accused of the 1981 murder of Joy Ludlam, an acquaintance of his. He was put under police surveillance within hours of her disappearance, and was held for 14 days, before the discovery of the body. An autopsy showed that she had been murdered only 5 days prior, during the time Felker was being watched. However, the evidence was changed, Felker went to court, and despite a great deal of evidence that was unlawfully withheld that would have probably proved him innocent, Felker was convicted and executed by the state of Georgia on November 15, 1996.
Because of human error and imperfect technology, the death penalty is too faulty to be left as a system of punishment. Based on these stories, I think it is clear that there needs to be a change in the way we punish our “criminals.”