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The Fayetteville Observer editorializes about Charles Walker: "Another case of evidence withheld points to the need for a moratorium on executions."
Here's our editorial, which more thoroughly addresses the nuances of the case.
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Comments (2)
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What's unfortunate is that those in power who withhold information apparently suffer no consequence for their actions.
It would seem to me that our system should punish them for knowingly withholding evidence that might have produced a different verdict.
Posted on January 31, 2006 1:49 PM
Don't blame the police for "withholding" information. They do what they're required to under current case law, etc., and then someone years later decides they made a technical violation.
So, they rules change. And the police follow the current rules until they're overruled a couple years down the road.
The law is a continually changing animal. The officer that was quoted in the article did nothing intentionally wrong at the time, he was second-guessed years later by legal eagles.
I've had cases overruled on technicalities years later that weren't even thought of yet when the case was tried. I've had cases upheld by the Court Of Appeals on the basis of something that wasn't even considred at trial time.
Rules of evidence, etc., change all the time, often long after the case was settled in court.
I've never seen any officer or DA intentionally withhold anything such as this; it's the second guessing years down the road that overturns cases such as this.
Posted on February 1, 2006 12:56 AM