Jolt Country

Bill English (not to be confused with the former Prime Minister of New Zealand) was the inventor of the computer mouse back in 1968.

"Bill English, the computer engineer who built the very first prototype mouse, was the behind-the-scenes mastermind of the "Mother of All Demos" and later assisted Alan Kay in building the Xerox PARC Alto computer, has died [August 3rd] at the age of 91."
https://www.i-programmer.info/news/82/13892.html

Tdarcos wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2020 9:11 amBill English...has died [August 3rd] at the age of 91.

He died last month.

Billy Mays wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2020 10:18 am

Tdarcos wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2020 9:11 amBill English...has died [August 3rd] at the age of 91.

He died last month.

1. Nobody here noticed his death.
2. The article, dated August 3rd, did not say when he died; I presumed it was like an obituary, done on the same day.

I never heard of this guy until this scene from Sleepless In Seattle. Actually never saw Dirty Dozen, maybe i should.

Tdarcos wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2020 2:15 pm

Billy Mays wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2020 10:18 am

Tdarcos wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2020 9:11 amBill English...has died [August 3rd] at the age of 91.

He died last month.

1. Nobody here noticed his death.

I noticed it.

Billy Mays wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2020 8:48 pm

Tdarcos wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2020 2:15 pm

Billy Mays wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2020 10:18 am

He died last month.

1. Nobody here noticed his death.

I noticed it.

But you didn't post it, you lose the game.

Casual Observer wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2020 9:28 pm

Billy Mays wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2020 8:48 pm

Tdarcos wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2020 2:15 pm
1. Nobody here noticed his death.

I noticed it.

But you didn't post it, you lose the game.

Either way.

Commander, can we get your breakdown as to which of the death row guys you'd execute and which you'd just give life in prison to?

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Wed Aug 12, 2020 5:05 pm Commander, can we get your breakdown as to which of the death row guys you'd execute and which you'd just give life in prison to?

Even better here's a game for tDarcos: Execute, Pardon, or Fuck. Go ahead, rate them all.

Now we're talkin!

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Wed Aug 12, 2020 5:05 pm Commander, can we get your breakdown as to which of the death row guys you'd execute and which you'd just give life in prison to?

As an atheist, I say, "Kill 'em all and let God sort it out!"

Casual Observer wrote: Wed Aug 12, 2020 5:34 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Wed Aug 12, 2020 5:05 pm Commander, can we get your breakdown as to which of the death row guys you'd execute and which you'd just give life in prison to?

Even better here's a game for tDarcos: Execute, Pardon, or Fuck. Go ahead, rate them all.

I don't do guys, so as Ronny Cox said in Total Recall, "Fuck 'em. It'll teach the others a lesson."

Despite the "Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996," [1] which was supposed to speed up the process, executions take longer than ever. Even back when Sacco and Vanzetti were sentenced to death in Massachusetts - a case it is conceded was incorrectly decided[2] - it took seven years for the sentence to be carried out after all appeals were exhausted.

Take your typical murder case. First, in most cases there is a presentment to a grand jury, which if a true bill is returned to the court that convened it, the accused is indicted and a warrant issued for their arrest. Once found, the accused is brough before a court to enter a plea, this is arraignment. If they don't have counsel there may be temporary counsel appointed for them for this purpose. Presuming they plead not guilty, a trial is scheduled and the same or different counsel may be assigned. In most states at this time the prosecution must give notice to the defendant (or their counsel) if they plan to seek the death penalty.

The defendant has the exclusive option whether or not they will be tried by a judge or a jury. The prosecution cannot ask for a jury if the defendant chooses not to have one. Very rare, but sometimes it happens. Presuming there is a jury, jury selection takes place. There is a trial. The jury goes to delibrate. If they find the defendant not guilty, the case is over. If they find the defendant guilty of anything less than First Degree murder, they are dismissed and the judge will impose sentence, usually a few days to a few weeks later after certain reeports are made.

If the jury votes to convict for first degree murder, there is a brand new trial, called the penalty phase. The jury decides whether to give the defendant death or life imprisonment. To vote for death, there have to be "aggravating factors," like lying in wait, killing during commission of a felony, torture, killing a witness to another crime, etc. The jury can also hear "mitigating factors," which might mean the defendant should not be executed. Then the jury goes out to deliberate the penalty, which for death must be unanimous.

In some states if there is a hung jury, it's a mistrial but only on the penalty; they are tried again but in theory the new jury only decides life or death. In practice it effectively means the whole trial is repeated. In some states a hung jury in the penalty phase means the defendant automatically gets life.

When the jury decides to impose death the court in some states can treat the jury's decision as advisory and sentence the defendant to life. This almost never happens. The court cannot, however, override a jury verdict of life and impose death; a jury verdict of life is technically the equivalent of an acquittal of the death penakty.

So the conviction is then automatically appealed by law by the prosecution to the highest state court, which in all but 2 of the 25 states that have the death penalty is the Supreme Court (Texas and I think Oklahoma have a separate Court of Criminal Appeals.) Typically the defendant will have different lawyers for the appeal, since they can raise "ineffective assistance of counsel," meaning the trial lawyers did not provide a proper defense.

Presuming the appellate court upholds the sentence of death, they cam appeal to the US Supreme Court. If either the Court declines the petition, or upholds the sentence, then the defendant files petitions for writ of Habeas corpus, possibly at state level forst, then once all appeals are exhausted, they file federal habeas petition.

Once those are exhausted, then an order for execution is issued. If there is no clemency or stay, and further court appeals are fruitless, the exceution takes place. The whole process takes years.



[1] I am not kidding, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) is an actual law. It reduces the means by which a person can file collateral attacks on a state death sentence in federal court, supposedly to speed up executions. This means appellate counsel must frame much more complicated habeas corpus petitions which require more time to respond, this being essentially the only option left. Plus all the other cases due to lots more drug crimes being appealed means most executions now take 15-20 years from conviction.

[2] Over 50 years after they were executed, the Governor of Massachusetts issued a pardon for Sacco and Vanzetti.

bryanb wrote: Sun Aug 02, 2020 1:40 pm

Tdarcos wrote: Sun Aug 02, 2020 8:45 am Pending executIons for August:

August
 26 Federal Lezmond Mitchell
 28 Federal Keith Dwayne Nelson

Keith Dwayne Nelson has a serial killer name. I don't know what he did, but I've got to vote for the Keithster here.

As of now, my pick, Lezzie has 9 days to live. "I was considering writing him a letter..."

Only Native American on federal death row loses latest bid to delay execution (Idaho State Journal, Aug 13)

Diné convicted of murder set for execution (Navajo Times, Jul 26, 2019)

"Lezmond Mitchell, then 20, plotted with three others to carjack a vehicle to rob a trading post on Oct. 28, 2001.

"Mitchell, along with Johnny Orsinger, 16, abducted Alyce Slim, 63, and her nine-year-old granddaughter. Slim and her granddaughter were in a GMC pickup truck when they were abducted.

"According to court documents, Mitchell and Orsinger stabbed Slim 33 times. Afterwards, they dragged her body into the back of the truck where they forced the granddaughter to sit beside the lifeless body.

"Mitchell then drove to the Chuska Mountains where he dumped Slim’s body off.

"There, the court papers state, Mitchell ordered the little girl to get out and “lay down and die.” Mitchell then cut her throat twice. When she did not die, Mitchell and Orsinger dropped a 20-pound rock on her head.

"After the brutal murders, Mitchell and Orsinger dug a hole after severing the heads and hands of Slim and her granddaughter. They buried the dismembered body parts and their bodies were pulled into the woods."

And Bryan's pick, "The Keithster" has 11 days to live.

Keith Nelson: Death row inmate who raped and murdered 10-year-old was sexually abused as a child, says lawyer
"Death row inmate Keith Dwayne Nelson, who kidnapped a 10-year-old girl in Texas, raped her and strangled her to death, has been scheduled to be executed on August 28, 2020. Nelson is amongst the four death row inmates to be executed after 17 years by the Justice Department, ever since the practice was halted after 2003. The new dates of execution, which were announced by the federal agency on June 15, begin mid-July."

These guys look framed.

He looks like he would bite the finger off a hobbit

Man did I accidentally pick one evil-looking bastard. The Keithster should (quickly) sell the rights to his visage to a movie or animation studio. He could be the basis for any number of evil mythological creatures. Whether you need a demon, orc, troll, or Nosferatu, the Keithster's got you covered!

You know what the best part of cyberbullying death row prisioners is? All of it, haw haw haw!

(Also, buying their last meal and then throwing most of it away on YouTube.)

What did I walk into?