Mind if I add my little rant to your discussion? Oh, forget the "little" part, I'm going to go off:

I surfed across the story of Marlin Gray's execution and somehow the story sounded strangely familiar to me... Sure enough, it was the same case referred to in the July 04 Reader's Digest.

It was actually a pretty emotional book excerpt that told the story of a young man (Tom Cummins) who survived the brutal attack that took the lives of his two cousins (Robin and Julie Kerry). The story takes a tragic twist as our young hero / victim finds himself the primary suspect in the deaths of the two girls he loved so dearly...

But you know, after spending the day digging through as much information as I could possibly find, it's painfully obvious to me that there's another side of this story that didn't get such sympathetic treatment in the press. It's a tragic story alright, but this story isn't anywhere near as cut and dried as the Reader's Digest version had led me to believe.

If you haven't already familiarized yourself with this case, a good place to start would be reading Marlin Gray's Application for Executive Clemency (www.umsl.edu/~phillips/dp/GrayM.doc). Yeah, I know - our prisons are full of "innocent" people (I've got a short stint as a prison guard under my belt, I know they're all "innocent"). But how can you read that document without saying to yourself that something just ain't right here? At the very least, when a man is sentenced to die and raises so many substantiated doubts, don't be owe it to him (and to ourselves) to at least consider the questions raised before we end his life?

And if you keep searching, the questions just keep piling up... There's just so much wrong with this case, I don't even know where to start!

1) The standard of "beyond reasonable doubt" was not met. Not even close. My God, the only thing that was proven beyond a reasonable doubt was that Mr. Gray was not on the bridge when the deaths occurred.

2) The standards for a First Degree Murder conviction were not met. No intent was even suggested.

3) The case presented by the prosecution does not even place Gray at the crime scene (on the bridge). Labeling Gray the "ringleader" of the bunch is a stretch, but comparing his involvement to Charles Manson is ludicrous. Not only is it a weak case, it's a case that doesn't really implicate Gray in anything that remotely resembles First Degree Murder.

4) The prosecution (and more specifically, Nels Moss) needs to be held accountable for the charges of procedural and ethical misconduct. I think the charges have been substantiated enough to at least warrant an investigation... But for Christ's sake, if that's how the justice system works down there and they all think that's okay, remind me to stay out of Missouri!

5) Tom Cummins' story simply doesn't add up. I guess that shouldn't come as a surprise because he's changed the story at least three times... But the story about his heroic plunge and desperate fight for survival in the cold, swift currents... That story goes against the physical evidence, eyewitness accounts after the fact, the laws of science and basic common sense... I can't escape the conclusion that this story needs to be seriously scrutinized. And nowhere in any of his stories does he mention the existence of a weapon! But he offered no resistance because he was afraid they'd shoot him? I guess if I was fighting for my life, you'd at least need to show me that you really had a gun before I'd take my chances jumping in the river. But that's because I'm only human and I know that even if the fall didn't mess me up, I'd only last about 7 minutes at most in the 45 degree water...

6) And while we're talking about the stories that Tom tells, what about his initial confession? While he would later recant it, I found that story to be both believable and consistent with the facts of the case.

7) Okay, somebody might need to help me with this one... I'm not a lawyer and I have no idea how this works, but it doesn't make sense to me... How can Daniel Winfrey (the 15 year old) cut a deal to testify against the other three, provide that testimony, and then plead guilty to charges that directly contradict what he just testified about? Something there doesn't make sense to me...

(doesn't this guy ever shut up?)

I support the death penalty and I guess you could call me a skinhead white male. Actually the term "skinhead" is not my own, but somehow every white male that shaves his head has to deal with racial stereotypes as well... Kind of ironic that way, isn't it?

But I think we just executed an innocent man. That's certainly what the facts in this case seem to indicate. Is it possible that the police already had the person responsible (Tom Cummins) and totally screwed up their case against him when they roughed him up? I don't know whether Mr. Cummins is responsible for the deaths or not... Since his three different stories all contradict each other, two of them have got to be lies. I would think he'd have some explaining to do, but I guess you don't have to explain much once the case against falls apart. Is it possible that after blowing the case, the prosecution was put in a position where they'd better get somebody convicted just to save their own skin? Is that why they paid Tom Cummins $150,000 to keep his claims of how the police interrogated him going to court? After all, airing those claims in public would only substantiate Gray's claims of the same treatment and bring to light Cummins' claims should have been provided to Gray's defense in the discovery phase. It sure works out better to just pay that man a chunk of money and make the whole issue go away...

And as much as I hate to even think this is possible... was race the deciding factor? Is there a reason that the white kid got the plea bargain and the black kids got sentenced to die? Would a white defendant get railroaded by the legal system like this?

Well, I hope I stirred up some emotions... That's the sad thing about the world we live in, you know? We can see something absolutely horrible, and all agree that it's horrible, but then we just shake our heads and go on with our lives.

But hell, what do I know... I'm just an unemployed white guy and I obviously have too much time on my hands if I'm going to spend all day worrying about something that I already know I can't do anything about...

My heart goes out to Marlin Gray, Julie Kerry and Robin Kerry - may you all rest in peace.