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A year later, Rhodes claimed full responsibility for the murders and retracted his testimony. Nonetheless, Tafero was executed in Florida's electric chair in 1990. Two years later, the conviction/case of Jacobs was dismissed due to lack of evidence. The same evidence would have exonerated Tafero as well.

Wayne Felker was also wrongfully executed in 1996, suspected of murdering a woman. The hidden evidence by prosecutors that could have exonerated him at the time of his trail played a role in his execution. His case was reopened in 2000 and DNA testing proved that he was not the killer. Unfortunately, his innocence came after the fact of his execution, which is rather pathetic.

To further demonstrate how flawed the practice is, two more cases will be cited briefly:

Ryan Matthews, then 17-year-old black teen, was convicted in 1999 of murdering a local convenience store owner and sentenced to death row. In 2003, Matthews' attorneys had the physical properties re-tested and he was exonerated by DNA. Based on DNA findings, prosecutors dismissed all charges and he was released in 2004.

Ernest Ray Willis was convicted in 1987, suspected of arson that killed two women, and sentenced to death row. His court-appointed lawyers were not ready for the job (similar to other appointed lawyers who are sloppy) and spent little time on the case which was the catalyst of his death sentence; his lawyers were defenseless. After 17 years of imprisonment, Willis' case was revisited and his conviction was dismissed, all charges dropped. It is important to note that he had no prior records; he was released in 2004.

These are only a few selected cases, but there are many other cases that exonerated an innocent soul from death row. This shows that innocent people are wrongfully accused and lose ample time of their life by being thrown in prison. In fact, since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the late 1970s, more than 100 inmates on death row were exonerated. How many more are there?

When there is an overturn of a judgment, especially in regard to something as serious as the death penalty, people (the government and supporters) should start to think hard and question the practice altogether. Yes, it may execute some of the guiltiest, but it also may execute some of the innocents, which has occurred several times. Therefore, those who are on death row and claim to be innocent should be given a second chance in court to ensure that they are (or are not) guilty of the crime that has them on death row.

After arguing both sides of such a controversial issue, the ultimate question presents itself: Should the death penalty be abolished? Yes! As paradoxical as it may seem, it should be eliminated, but it would not be upsetting if the likes of Timothy McVeigh and Danny Rolling were punished by death.

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Source
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.or g/
Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC)
(Retrieval date: Sept. 30, 2007)

Learn more about this author, Hamlet Pericles.
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