Is this Justice?
LEGAL; IN THE NEWS; CRIMINAL JUSTICE
On the same day, these two stories were in the news. The first story is about a man who served 18 years for a crime he did not commit. Man Found Innocent.
HOUSTON-Texas has awarded more than $450,000 to a man who was exonerated by DNA evidence after spending 18 years in prison for a sexual assault conviction.
Arthur Mumphrey was released from prison in January after his lawyer found DNA evidence clearing him in the rape of a 13-year-old girl. Mumphrey had been sentenced in 1986 to 35 years in prison.
Mumphrey, who was 42 when he was released, declined to talk about his plans for the money.
His brother, Charles, confessed to the rape while serving time in jail for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, shortly after his brother’s release. No criminal charges will be filed against Charles Mumphrey because the statute of limitations has expired, prosecutors said.
The second story in the news on the same day is about a woman who drowned her 2 kids in 2003. she is being released from the mental hospital where she was placed because of “insanity”. She is now, supposedly, mentally stable and ready to return to the free world. Woman Released.
PLANO, Texas-A woman who drowned her two children in 2003 is now mentally stable and should be released from a state hospital, a judge ruled.
Lisa Ann Diaz drowned her 3- and 5-year-old daughters by holding their heads under water in the bathtub of their Plano home. Diaz, tried only in the older child’s death, was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
State District Judge Mark Rusch on Thursday ordered Diaz’s release from the Big Spring State Hospital, where she has been for more than two years. Her attorney said the 36-year-old could be released as early as Friday.
I SAY:
IS THIS JUSTICE? Anyone can claim they are insane. the question is not whether you are sick, whether a “little voice in the back of your head” tells you to commit a crime, drown your kids, rape someone or whatever. the question is: while the person commits the crime, were they aware that they are doing something wrong. Did they feel they were doing something wrong, but they did it anyway? Then he/she was not completely insane. As this story goes, Lisa Ann Diaz had cuts on her body when they found her. She wanted to commit suicide to be with her kids. So, she knew that she killed them. She knew she shouldn’t do it, but she did it anyway. Can they guarantee that her insanity will never come back? that she will always take her medication? If she is now mentally stable, now is the time to show her what prison looks like!… to show her, for a couple of years, what she will get for life if she does anything the “Little Voice” tells her, again.
How did they have all the evidence to convict Arthur Murphy, when in fact he was innocent? And, in all those years, they still couldn’t find that the conviction was a false accusation? What will $450,000.00 less taxes do to heal those 18 years lost behind bars? Nothing! and why can the guilty brother not be convicted, because of statute of limitations? all criminals should escape to a different country and live there till the statute of limitation expires, then come back to the US and live a happy life. If someone is found guilty, through DNA and confession, he should have to pay for his crime no matter how much time has elapsed.
IS THIS JUSTICE?
