https://news.yahoo.com/former-prosecutor-now-says-inmate-140118857.html
CBSNews
Thu, December 3, 2020, 9:01 AM EST
Kim Kardashian West is calling for leniency for Indiana inmate Brandon Bernard, who is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection next week. Five jurors who voted for his conviction as well as a former U.S. prosecutor are joining those calling for clemency.
The 40-year-old was convicted in 2000 for his role in the murders of youth ministers Todd and Stacie Bagley.
•••••
"The death penalty is far too harsh for his level of involvement in this crime," said Gary McClung, one of the jurors who voted for Bernard's death sentence in 2000.
He told CBS News' David Begnaud that he felt in his heart even then that the death penalty may be too harsh for Bernard.
•••••
Kardashian West, who has successfully lobbied President Trump on past criminal justice reform issues, posted her call for action on Twitter.
"While Brandon did participate in this crime, his role was minor compared to that of the other teens involved, two of whom are home from prison now," she tweeted on November 29.
Former federal prosecutor Angela Moore successfully fought off an appeal by Bernard to try and have his conviction and sentence overturned.
However, since then she has lobbied for his death sentence to be overturned. Asked why, Moore said it was "the legal reasons, aside from my own personal beliefs, it's the evidence and what we have found out since"
"Mr. Bernard did not shoot and kill the victims in this case," Moore said. "He was not the person who planned this robbery gone wrong."
Moore also said "it wouldn't have mattered" if she spoke up before as a prosecutor.
"When you're a prosecutor, at least in our district, you are not allowed to concede error," she said.
•••••
While he is not innocent of a crime, evidence shows Bernard was not involved in planning the murder of the Bagleys, husband-and-wife youth ministers who were carjacked, abducted and shot.
•••••
No comments:
Post a Comment