William J. Barnes, a 71-year-old ex-convict who served 20 years for shooting rookie Philadelphia Police Officer Walter T. Barclay, has now been charged with murder in the 41-year-old case.
Authorities quietly charged Barnes on Sunday after Barclay - who was paralyzed when Barnes shot him on Nov. 27, 1966 - died last month at age 64.
Is this fair or not? What do you think and why?
The whole story:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/20070904_Murder_charge_in_death_of_officer.html
2007-09-04 11:51:37 · 8 answers · asked by whitiepossum 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
there is no such thing as "fair" when murder is involved because you cannot bring someone back no matter what. life with no parole is as close to fair as it gets (plus being a prison b*tch).
2007-09-04 12:09:14 · answer #1 · answered by Mon-chu' 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't believe fairness comes into this situation. It certainly was a travesty, for the officer who has lived for 41 years with the injury he sustained during the shooting, and for the officer's family.
Obviously the prosecutor feels that he has enough evidence to support his allegations that this was murder. The medical reports will support his allegation. Now of course it will be up to the trier of fact. Will a judge or a jury find him guilty or not?
Our system of justice says that there is not a statute of limitations on murder. If it is one day or 51 years after the fact, a person who commits a murder can stand trial for the murder. Our society simply cannot be a haven for murders and we must have serious consequences for our most serious crime.
2007-09-04 12:12:45 · answer #2 · answered by malter 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wow. It's impressionable to say the least. I think, and I say this very loosely without courage, the only way I'd try the man for murder is if by chance the result of his death was due to the shooting.
Even then, since the man served his time and at the age he is now, I would find it very immoral to try and convict him on murder. The man served his time and paid his dues for his crimes. He led a peaceful life afterwards and should be awareded that...to end his life peaceful
2007-09-04 12:05:28 · answer #3 · answered by Glen B 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Truth is: You would have to be on the Jury or Grand Jury to actually get a feel for the personality of the accused. I'm sure that the family of the slain officer would like to see Barnes decapitated, however, if he justly served his time and has repented, it's possible he should be able to live his life out in peace.
2007-09-04 12:09:20 · answer #4 · answered by ggraves1724 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Not fair. If Willy served a sentence related to the crime, that should be enough. 20 years is long enough, and at age 71, who cares?
2007-09-04 12:02:26 · answer #5 · answered by Flatpaw 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
he shot a cop an the cop died it does not matter 1day or 40 years hie action caused a death fry his old ***
2007-09-04 12:00:53 · answer #6 · answered by bigdogrex 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
yeah i think its fair cause if he did something bad then let him take the punishment
2007-09-04 12:00:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
huh?
2007-09-05 03:02:56 · answer #8 · answered by Dried_Squid 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋