The LookoutDeath penalty opponents claim California may execute an innocent man
Lately we've beentelling you about an unusual effort in Texas to challenge the constitutionality of the death penalty. Defense lawyers, backed by anti-death-penalty advocates, have been arguing to a judge that the Lone Star State's death-penalty system leaves too high a risk of executing innocent people -- and they point to two recent cases in which evidence has emerged suggesting that's exactly what may have happened.
But that problem may extend beyond Texas. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote today about the case of Kevin Cooper, a black man convicted of murdering a white family in 1983 who faces death by lethal injection in California next year. There's a slew of evidence suggesting that the police decided early that Cooper was guilty, then actively buried or ignored evidence that undermined their thesis. As Lanny Davis, the former Clinton White House counsel who's defending Cooper pro bono, puts it: "My simple theory: heinous brutal murder of white family and black convict. Simple as that."
The judicial process has run out for Cooper. Now Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger must decide whether to commute Cooper's sentence before leaving office next month. In the Texas cases, the governor at the time -- George W. Bush in one instance, Rick Perry in the other -- approved the executions despite the existence of evidence that cast doubt on the guilt of the condemned men. Cooper's supporters will be hoping Schwarzenegger takes a more careful approach.
(AP Photo)
