8.20.2009

Las Vegas Line: Death Penalty

This guy got my attention last year when he gave a jailhouse interview after killing a couple of innocent folks in Garland. (Video, with extreme language, here.) This guy has been presenting himself as the poster child for the Death Penalty ever since he got caught. Wheels. Off. Big Time. Well, his trial is taking place with the only issue left for the jury, after conviction, is whether he should live or die. Deliberations begin today. I've been thinking that the death penalty is a foregone conclusion, but these times they are a changing. I'm not sure anything is a slam dunk anymore especially in Dallas County. And if he gets Life instead of Death, there might be a pretty big firestorm. It kind of flew under the radar, but after the jury was selected, which turned out to be all white, the judge took one of the white jurors off and replaced him with a black guy ( a black guy that the State had used one of its free "kick him off the jury" strikes on.) This was done simply because the judge said it seemed "unfair" for Broadnax to be judged by an all-white jury even though the judge also ruled that the State's reason for striking the black guy off the panel were legal and "race neutral." (Side note: How in the world did they end up with an all white jury in Dallas County?)