INDEX

1.  A wrongful conviction
2.  Executing the mentally retarded
___________________________________ 

Editorial: A mishandling of justice

St. Petersburg Times, published August 12, 2000

What does 17 years mean in the life of a human being? It is the time it takes
to grow up, the time it takes to raise a family, the time it takes to make a
career.

This is the time Larry Youngblood missed.

For 17 years Youngblood was punished for a crime he didn't commit. Only now
new DNA tests have exonerated him, proving he could not have been the man who
kidnapped and sodomized a 10-year-old boy from a carnival in October 1983.
Despite the child picking Youngblood out of a photo lineup, science proves
the boy implicated the wrong man.

No matter how you hold up this case, there is tragedy written on it. A boy's
victimization is followed by a man's injustice. But these personal traumas
are the least of the damage Youngblood's case has caused. Not only will he be
remembered as a man wrongly imprisoned, but his name will forever be
connected to a case that lowered the bar for evidence collection standards.

Twelve years ago the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Youngblood's assertion that
his due process rights were violated when police failed to properly
refrigerate the victim's semen-stained underwear, thereby destroying

evidence that could have exonerated him. By a 6-to-3 vote the court ruled
that without evidence of bad faith on the part of police, without showing
police were purposely trying to hide evidence of innocence, the mishandling
of evidence was not a constitutional violation.

An impassioned defense by Justice Harry Blackmun retorted: "The Constitution
requires that criminal defendants be provided with a fair trial, not merely a
"good faith' try at a fair trial." The dissenters, of course, were right.
When police incompetence denies the accused the opportunity to present a full
defense, his right to a fair trial has been compromised, especially when the
destroyed evidence would have revealed much about the true criminal's
identity.

Youngblood's story is as old as the common law itself: Bad facts make bad
law. In 1988 six justices dispensed with principle in order to keep a man
they thought had commited a depraved act behind bars. Instead, their
ends-justifies-the-means justice landed an innocent man in prison for years
and gave police the green light to mishandle key evidence without
consequence. A story doesn't get much worse.
____________________________________________________________

Death Row is no place for retarded defendants

Daytona Beacj News-Journal Editorial
August 12, 2000

Wednesday afternoon, Gov. George W. Bush was adamant: Texas doesn't execute
mentally handicapped inmates.

A few hours later, Oliver Cruz - a 33-year-old man with an IQ of 63 - was led
sobbing to a gurney in Ellis I, the Texas state prison that houses Death Row.

Texas does execute mentally handicapped inmates. Under Bush's watch, the
state has done it before.

So has Florida. Since 1977, the state has executed at least three people who
were proven to have been mentally retarded. None of those executions have
taken place under the administration of the current governor. That doesn't
mean it won't happen.

Florida leaders should learn something from the national revulsion caused by
Cruz's execution, and ban the execution of the mentally retarded in this
state.

The Legislature had a bill before it last session that would have blocked
such executions from taking place. Bogged down in committee politics, it was
never heard on the floor of the House. Attempts to amend the provision onto
other pieces of legislation were blocked by House leadership.

This action puts political maneuvering over basic fairness. House criminal
justice officials made the same argument that Texas' governor does - that the
system is designed to identify retarded and mentally ill inmates before they
get to trial. This isn't always true.

Retarded suspects are at a significant disadvantage in the criminal justice
system. Many of them try to hide their condition, meaning they aren't singled
out early in the process. The Association for Retarded Citizens maintains
that mentally retarded suspects are much more likely to offer confessions,
even false ones, in a desire to help police. They are also more apt to become
confused about dates, times and places, making it easier for prosecutors to
cast doubt on their defenses.

Florida's leaders are wrong if they think their constituents approve of their
actions. It's true that a majority of Americans support the death penalty,
but that support is eroding rapidly. A Harris poll in July showed support for
the death penalty overall at 64 percent - the lowest rate in 19 years. When
mitigating factors are introduced - including the recent number of overturned
cases, the possibility of a true life sentence, or the presence of factors
like mental retardation - support usually drops below 50 percent.

Gov. Jeb Bush has said he will never allow a mentally retarded inmate to be
executed. That's good - but justice can't be secured with the promise of one
man. The Legislature should follow the lead of 11 other states and ban the
practice of executing the mentally retarded.
___________________________________________________________
Larry Helm Spalding
ACLU Legislative Staff Counsel
Tallahassee, Florida