Death penalty cases unnecessarily held up by federal judges

Robert Charles Comer wants to take responsibility for the murders,
kidnapping, robbery and rape he committed nearly 20 years ago at Apache
Lake and face the ultimate punishment state execution by lethal
injection. But the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals won't let him.

Instead, a 3-judge panel has refused to rule on whether Comer is
mentally
competent. A decision in Comer's favor would allow him to dismiss his
lawyers and end all of his appeals.

Capitol Media Services reported Monday that 2 judges don't want to act
until they can decide if Comer received a fair trial and sentencing
hearing. Keep in mind the 9th Circuit first took up Comers case 6 years
ago, and more than 12 months have passed since the court heard
arguments
from the lawyers about his mental state.

It appears Comer knows what he's doing, and justice continues to be
denied
by an ongoing tendency of the federal appellate courts to give too much
leeway to anti-death penalty forces. "I have a right to stop the
appeals,"
Comer said in a handwritten plea to the court. "I have a right to atone
for my sins against society."

Arizona hasn't executed a single death-row inmate since 2000 because
federal courts continue to meddle heavily under a constitutional right
for
judicial review called a writ of habeas corpus. This right was intended
to
provide a check against indefinite jailings without charges by law
enforcement, and to stop kangaroo legal proceedings.

The alarming number of times that death-row inmates have been
exonerated
years later show that appeals, at least at the state level, are a
critical
protection for defendants.

But a tiny number of federal appeals deal with actual questions of
guilt
or innocence. Most of the time, the issues only affect whether the
sentence will be death or life in prison.

And too often in death penalty cases, the federal courts have
intervened
to substitute their judgment for prosecutors, juries and state judges
accountable to people of Arizona.

"We're frustrated, as is everybody else, with these death-row cases
sitting for 5 or 6 years on habeas review," state Attorney General
Terry
Goddard told us last week.

Goddard said the Legislature took an important step this year to remove
at
least one reason for federal courts to hold these cases in limbo. For
the
first time, defense attorneys in capital cases now must have special
certification that shows they have sufficient skills and experience to
handle the complexities involved. Claims that death-row inmates had bad
legal representation at trial should become much more rare.

But more action needs to be taken by Congress and the courts themselves to reduce unnecessary delays that have severely limited the role of the death penalty in deterring future crime.

(source: Editorial, East Valley Tribune)