Should felony-murder rule be overturned?
by Opinion Staff
William Van Poyck is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday at 6 p.m. for the 1987 murder of Glades Correctional Institution guard Fred Griffis during an escape attempt outside a West Palm Beach doctor’s office.
Van Poyck’s lawyers say he should not be executed because he did not pull the trigger. They have produced an affidavit from Wanda Valdes stating that her husband, Frank, confessed to her that he pulled the trigger. Frank Valdes was beaten to death by prison guards in 1999.
The Florida Supreme Court has refused to stay Van Poyck’s execution. Van Poyck lawyer Jeffrey Davis, who is from Milwaukee, said he will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to step in.
He said the high court gradually has been limiting executions. Now, using the felony-murder rule, people who participate in a crime that causes a person’s death can be convicted of capital murder even if they didn’t directly kill the victim.
Mr. Davis notes the Supreme Court has said that people who were juveniles when they committed murder can’t be executed, and neither can people who were mentally retarded. Also, people who committed rape but not murder, can’t be executed. “The potential extension of that case law is that constitutionally you can’t execute someone who didn’t kill,” he said.
What do you think? Should the felony-murder rule be overturned? Take our poll and/or leave a comment.
http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/opini...be-overturned/
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