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Forever Tan
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Location: Wisconsin |  But WHY oh WHY didn't he get the death penalty...someone told me TX has that, maybe not..I'm just glad for his wife and kids sake justice was served today. Just had to share! |
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 Expert
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 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| This is  . But I feel like they never did get the answer to why he did it. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 669
Location: Central Texas | Yes, we have the death penalty here in Texas. I am not sure if they have disclosed why it wasn't sought in his case. |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
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Location: Kansas | |
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Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| For one thing, the price of the death penalty is way more than living life in prison. And personally, I'd rather have him be given to the wolves in prison than having death be his easy way out. He can burn after he gets his treatment in prison. |
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 Midget Lover
Location: Kentucky | Nateracer - 2015-02-25 9:00 AM For one thing, the price of the death penalty is way more than living life in prison. And personally, I'd rather have him be given to the wolves in prison than having death be his easy way out. He can burn after he gets his treatment in prison.
I agree. If they don't keep him in solitary, I bet someone on the inside will take care of him. |
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 Toastest with the Mostest
Posts: 5712
Location: That part of Texas | I haven't read anything from the prosecutors on why they didn't seek the death penalty but as an ex-prosecutor in Texas, I can speculate a few reasons as to why they probably didn't.
First, the cost of a death peanlty trial in a county of around 40,000 people could possibly bankrupt that county if they are not in one of the capital murder pools that counties in Texas pay to be in as a sort of hedge against having one of these trials there. Believe it or not, there are some counties in Texas who couldn't have a death penalty case because they simply cannot afford to fund one. Other counties elect to pay a certain dollar amount each year to a fund/pool that helps cover costs if it arises in their area. Last year Erath paid a total of $260K in indigient attorney fee expenses -- that's for all court appointed cases in that county. That amount would be a drop in the bucket for a capital murder case in where normal expenses can run from $500K-5 million.
Secondly, there were already issues of venue and jury choice clouding the ability to be able to pick a jury in this case due to it's high profile nature. Add in the fact that you have to find 12 people who can consider both the maximum and minimum range of punishment in a death penalty case = you are making it much, much harder to even qualify people to serve on that jury. Finding people who qualify on that issue alone -- punishment range -- on a normal death penalty case is hard. When it gets down to it, many people cannot handle the responsibility of personally handing down a death sentence to another human being. Could you? Could you really look at someone you don't know and say, "Yup, I'm going to vote to elect to kill him. No qualms about it." It's easy to say when you are not in that position but when it becomes real, it's a different matter.
Third, prosecutors were already having to combat an insanity/mental defense added in the mix that would further complicate getting a death penalty verdict. It's one thing to look at someone to see if they were mentally competent when it just involves them going to jail for the rest of their lives. It's another when you are looking at ending their life over it. It makes it tougher for 12 people to come to a unanimous decision on ending a life when it's involved.
Finally, the reason why they didn't seek the death penalty may have also had to do with the wishes of the victim's family. Who knows whether or not they may have asked that Routh not be killed over this. It's a complicated deal. If they did, this would probably factor in least in the death penatly decision but it might have been there.
So in a nutshell, (1) Cost (2) Complication in qualifying a jury (3) Complication in reaching a unanimous verdict and (4) possibly victim family request, may have all played a part in why the death penalty was not sought.
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| thanks for such a concise explanation. |
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 A Lady with Fight
Posts: 2701
Location: NC | I can't stand how they're calling it the 'American Sniper Case'.
Chris Kyle. Chad Littlefield.
They have names dangit. Use them.
Edited by hlynn 2015-02-25 8:44 AM
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 Good Grief!
Posts: 6343
Location: Cap'n Joan Rotgut.....alberta |
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 I'm not opinionated
Posts: 4597
Location: Online | I'm actually surprised. I figured Obama and Holder would stick their noses in it and get him off on some "technicality". While pretending to care about soldiers with PTSD.
I am very relieved and he will get what's coming to him in prison. |
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 Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | He will get his, death penalty or not. |
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 Living within my means
Posts: 5128
Location: Randolph, Utah | Thank God! I wish they could fry him.
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Forever Tan
Posts: 2925
Location: Wisconsin | RED RAIDER...thanks for that post!!! Regardless I don't see him living real long though in prison |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Murphy - 2015-02-25 8:10 AM Nateracer - 2015-02-25 9:00 AM For one thing, the price of the death penalty is way more than living life in prison. And personally, I'd rather have him be given to the wolves in prison than having death be his easy way out. He can burn after he gets his treatment in prison. I agree. If they don't keep him in solitary, I bet someone on the inside will take care of him.
Ditto , to me death would be to good for him, he needs to live the prison life, I bet when some of the guys get threw with him he will be wishing he got death. |
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Living within my means
Posts: 5128
Location: Randolph, Utah | Southtxponygirl - 2015-02-25 9:33 AM
Murphy - 2015-02-25 8:10 AM Nateracer - 2015-02-25 9:00 AM For one thing, the price of the death penalty is way more than living life in prison. And personally, I'd rather have him be given to the wolves in prison than having death be his easy way out. He can burn after he gets his treatment in prison. I agree. If they don't keep him in solitary, I bet someone on the inside will take care of him.
Do you think they'll let him in general population or keep him in solitary confinement? if he goes to gen pop he'll get his execution and it won't cost the state thousands of dollars! |
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Industrial Srength Barrel Racer
Posts: 7268
| Red Raider, thanks for that explanation, I had no idea! I always figured it would be cheaper to fry them than to feed them forever. |
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Toastest with the Mostest
Posts: 5712
Location: That part of Texas | painthorse7796 - 2015-02-25 10:26 AM RED RAIDER...thanks for that post!!! Regardless I don't see him living real long though in prison
Trust me, he's going to be well protected in prison. I'm glad for that too. I don't want his family to be able to capitalize off of a lawsuit for his murder if TDCJ doesn't provide adequate protection for him. He's not going to be hurt. |
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Toastest with the Mostest
Posts: 5712
Location: That part of Texas | Griz - 2015-02-25 10:42 AM Red Raider, thanks for that explanation, I had no idea! I always figured it would be cheaper to fry them than to feed them forever.
It's about $50 per day or around $18-19K a year to house them. If you up that estimate to $20K, it would be about $800K to house him for 40 years. |
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