The 5-4 decision is reverberating around the country. At issue was a Louisiana case and law, one of just five such state laws in the U.S. More on the Kennedy case: Patrick Kennedy was convicted in 2003 of raping his stepdaughter at their home in Harvey, La., outside New Orleans. The girl initially told police she was sorting Girl Scout cookies in the garage when two boys assaulted her.
Police arrested Kennedy a couple of weeks after the March 1998 rape, but more than 20 months passed before the girl identified him as her attacker.
His defense attorney at the time argued that blood testing was inconclusive and that the victim was pressured to change her story.
The Louisiana Supreme Court upheld the sentence, saying that "short of first-degree murder, we can think of no other non-homicide crime more deserving" of the death penalty. State Chief Justice Pascal Calogero noted in dissent that the U.S. high court already had made clear that capital punishment could not be imposed without the death of the victim, except possibly for espionage or treason.
A second Louisiana man, Richard Davis was sentenced to death in December for repeatedly raping a 5-year-old girl in Caddo Parish, which includes Shreveport. Local prosecutor Lea Hall told jurors: "Execute this man. Justice has a sword and this sword needs to swing today."
The high court's decision leaves intact Kennedy's conviction, but will lead to a new sentence.
The case is Kennedy v. Louisiana, 07-343. This one's a tough one. Even those of us who oppose the death penalty flinch on the issue when it comes to sexual attacks on children. I assume this will gin up fresh attacks on the Court by the right.
| Labels: death penalty, law, Supreme Court |
