Why do Courts have to force common sense on prosecutors
In this day of instaneous communication the news that the Supreme Court agreed to hear Hank Skinner's case is old news. in case you haven't heard, Skinner is sentenced to death, and has been requesting DNA testing which he claims will establish his innocence. Predicatbly, the State has opposed testing, and the courts have agreed.
I wrote before about this - in that post I compared Skinner's case with Cameron Todd Willingham, and wondered why the governor didn't learn anything from that case. You would think that with all the criticism and condemnation that case has created, you would want to avoid a repeat. Yet here we are again.
I think the vast majority of people believe that if there is evidence it should be tested. After all, what do you have to lose - other than time. If Skinner really is guilty is it all that important to execute him next month instead of next year? I understand there are some who think the process drags on too long, but look at the alternative. What if he is innocent - is speed more important than getting it right?
The only thing the State accomplishes by opposing testing is creating a controversy, and raising questions. Some will think they have something to hide - and maybe they do. Maybe they don't they grasp the concept that most of society actually believes that some people who are convicted are actually innocent. In fact, it has become common to see stories of people who have been exonerated after spending years in prison.
I realize the request in this case is being made at the last minute, and probably could have been presented earlier. Do some defendants play the system to buy time? Maybe so, but that doesn't mean they all are. Where the alternative is as final as it is here, I think you have to give the defendant the benefit of the doubt - at least where the request is not obviously frivolous.
What it really boils down to is that this is what is in the prosecutor's playbook. They have been conditioned to reject requests for testing - especially in death penalty cases. The reaction is almost automatic, and common sense is not going to get in the way. That is why it is up to the courts to occassionally legislate common sense. Let's hope they do so here.
