George W. Bush não era o governador do Texas, ao tempo da execução de Ruben Cantu (para que conste: era uma democrata, mas na pena de morte os "azuis" temem ir contra a maioria americana das sondagens que é a favor da pena máxima). Para que chamo, então, Bush ao caso? Porque foi o governador que mais matou no exercício do cargo, na história recente americana: 152 pessoas condenadas foram executadas em seis anos (1994-2000).
Nestes casos todos, o actual presidente americano só teve certezas: «Bush has said: "I take every death penalty case seriously and review each case carefully.... Each case is major because each case is life or death." In his autobiography, A Charge to Keep (1999), he wrote, "For every death penalty case, [legal counsel] brief[s] me thoroughly, reviews the arguments made by the prosecution and the defense, raises any doubts or problems or questions." Bush called this a "fail-safe" method for ensuring "due process" and certainty of guilt.» [in NY Review of Books]
Confrontando o que ele diz com análises detalhadas às suas condenações, eis o resultado do seu método "seriously" e "carefully": «[...] The Chicago Tribune published a compelling report on an investigation of all 131 death cases in Governor Bush's time. It made chilling reading.
In one-third of those cases, the report showed, the lawyer who represented the death penalty defendant at trial or on appeal had been or was later disbarred or otherwise sanctioned. In 40 cases the lawyers presented no evidence at all or only one witness at the sentencing phase of the trial.
In 29 cases, the prosecution used testimony from a psychiatrist who - based on a hypothetical question about the defendant's past - predicted he would commit future violence. Most of those psychiatrists testified without having examined the defendant: a practice condemned professionally as unethical.
Other witnesses included one who was temporarily released from a psychiatric ward to testify, a pathologist who had admitted faking autopsies and a judge who had been reprimanded for lying about his credentials.
Asked about the Tribune study, Governor Bush said, "We've adequately answered innocence or guilt" in every case. The defendants, he said, "had full access to a fair trial."» [in commondreams.org]
O homem das certezas mergulhou o mundo numa guerra suja. Como já antes tinha mergulhado o seu governo no Texas na velha máxima de "olho por olho, dente por dente", sem qualquer compaixão.
Nestes casos todos, o actual presidente americano só teve certezas: «Bush has said: "I take every death penalty case seriously and review each case carefully.... Each case is major because each case is life or death." In his autobiography, A Charge to Keep (1999), he wrote, "For every death penalty case, [legal counsel] brief[s] me thoroughly, reviews the arguments made by the prosecution and the defense, raises any doubts or problems or questions." Bush called this a "fail-safe" method for ensuring "due process" and certainty of guilt.» [in NY Review of Books]
Confrontando o que ele diz com análises detalhadas às suas condenações, eis o resultado do seu método "seriously" e "carefully": «[...] The Chicago Tribune published a compelling report on an investigation of all 131 death cases in Governor Bush's time. It made chilling reading.
In one-third of those cases, the report showed, the lawyer who represented the death penalty defendant at trial or on appeal had been or was later disbarred or otherwise sanctioned. In 40 cases the lawyers presented no evidence at all or only one witness at the sentencing phase of the trial.
In 29 cases, the prosecution used testimony from a psychiatrist who - based on a hypothetical question about the defendant's past - predicted he would commit future violence. Most of those psychiatrists testified without having examined the defendant: a practice condemned professionally as unethical.
Other witnesses included one who was temporarily released from a psychiatric ward to testify, a pathologist who had admitted faking autopsies and a judge who had been reprimanded for lying about his credentials.
Asked about the Tribune study, Governor Bush said, "We've adequately answered innocence or guilt" in every case. The defendants, he said, "had full access to a fair trial."» [in commondreams.org]
O homem das certezas mergulhou o mundo numa guerra suja. Como já antes tinha mergulhado o seu governo no Texas na velha máxima de "olho por olho, dente por dente", sem qualquer compaixão.
