[Followup] Cooper granted stay of execution.

February 9, 2004 8:53 PM

Convicted killer wins stay. The 9th Circuit Court feels that justice would be better served by being more sure that Cooper is actually guilty of the 4 murders he was sentenced to die for (followed from here). Considering the amount of controversy over evidence handling in this case, I think that they're right.
posted by Dipsomaniac (9 comments total)

Here's something that says the defense is just playing normal stall tactics.

Says a private investigator hired by Cooper's lawyers to follow the evidence:
"It proves, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that Kevin Cooper was involved in the murders," Ingels told me over the phone.

What about the claims that Cooper was framed? "They're just making this stuff up," was Ingels' assessment. As for Cooper's latest set of lawyers, "They're doing everything they can, professional, unprofessional, ethically, unethically," Ingels opined. "The end justifies the means."


Basically, Cooper is being used by other activists who have a political agenda against Schwarzenegger.
posted by calwatch at 9:31 PM on February 9, 2004

Basically, Cooper is being used by other activists who have a political agenda against Schwarzenegger.

What's wrong with having an agenda against Schwarzenegger? I don't think Cooper should be freed, but if any doubt exists about his culpability, there should not be a rush to execute. If Schwarzenegger gets politically hurt in the process, I'm not shedding any tears.

By the way, you linked from a Debra J. Saunders column, not a news story. Debra J. Saunders has about zero credibility in the Bay Area from anybody who isn't a Republican partisan anyway.
posted by jonp72 at 10:02 PM on February 9, 2004

If she has zero credibility, then why is she still writing for the San Francisco Chronicle? Newspaper columnists don't just make up facts, you know.

And Saunders does make a good point about EDTA. EDTA testing will only muddy up the waters, especially when it is found in numerous products.

On the other hand, what's a few more weeks anyway? I'm confident the full Ninth Circuit will overturn the decision en banc, and even if the hearing is held, the EDTA issue will be dismissed as a usual red herring.
posted by calwatch at 10:24 PM on February 9, 2004

in the Bay Area from anybody who isn't a Republican partisan anyway.

There are Republicans in the Bay Area?
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 11:02 PM on February 9, 2004

Ah, yes. Killing people to keep people from killing people. And it works so well. One can't remember if the United States is now the fifth or maybe the sixth most homicidal country out of hundreds of nations in the world.

There are Republicans in the Bay Area?

Yes. Token conservatives are imported from the Midwest, dressed in frilly, spring-like outfits, goaded into stuttering political knee-jerk wailings (mocked for same), rudely quizzed on multisyllabic words they misuse and can neither define nor spell, and are otherwise publicly humiliated on busy avenues along the Embarcadero.

In other words, it's just like MetaFilter.
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 1:03 AM on February 10, 2004

If EDTA testing will only muddy up the waters, why is EDTA testing done?
posted by magullo at 5:31 AM on February 10, 2004

f&m: Is the "deterrent factor" the official reason for capital punishment? I didn't think it was, but I don't know that much about the States' legal system.
posted by ODiV at 6:11 AM on February 10, 2004

Newspaper columnists don't just make up facts, you know.

Bwahahaha!!!

What planet you living on?
posted by nofundy at 6:12 AM on February 10, 2004

In other words, it's just like MetaFilter.

Well, mefi's cheaper and it smells better.
posted by jonmc at 7:07 AM on February 10, 2004