Marco Allen Chapman is from Louisville KY, being charged with brutally killing two children, left their sister and mother for dead. He has admitted to the killings, waived a trial and sentencing by a jury and then is begging to be sentenced to death. His own lawyers say Chapman is trying to use the legal system to committ 'suicide by court'. He has also plead guilty to stabbing a 10-year old, who survived, then raping and trying to kill their mother.
Professors who teach criminal law have found Chapman's decision as potential implications for future defendants disturbing.
Kentucky Supreme Court has been set to hear arguments on the legality of Chapman's request. The judge has granted Chapman his request and be sentenced to death.
A criminal law professor, in Mississippi, said "permitting defendants to make decisions which increase the risk of wrongful convicitons is a bad policy".
The guy admitted to everything, is begging to die - so why are his motives being questioned?
2007-04-08 10:16:50 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in News & Events ➔ Current Events
The reason for the delay is that his request to die without filing appeals is without precedent in the state of Kentucky - there's no prior case law regarding the situation. So the state supreme court will hear the prosecution and Chapman's court-appointed lawyers arguments and will make a decision and set a precedent which will be the established case law regarding these types of situations in the future.
2007-04-09 18:33:06 · answer #1 · answered by sunshine25 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The very fact that he waived all of his rights and asked for death may be construed as suicidal and "could" indicate mental aberration. If that is proved in court, his lawyers would have grounds for a mistrial, which would involve more court costs, and perhaps negate the death sentence entirely. The court system is anything but perfect, and defense lawyers could keep Chapman alive even though he asked for death, to protect his "rights" and others' rights in future trials of this nature.
Me? I'd give him what he wants.
2007-04-08 17:39:21 · answer #2 · answered by charliecizarny 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Seems to me that the big worry with this case is that since he has admitted to the crimes and has waived everything other than the punishment, it may well pave the way for those who wish to commit suicide to kill someone and have the state assist them with the suicide.
2007-04-09 14:44:49 · answer #3 · answered by sacwc 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Since when do we ask the criminals what they want their sentence to be?
2007-04-08 17:25:00 · answer #4 · answered by missingora 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋