The convicted Colorado theater gunman [Some Asshole] will spend the rest of his life in prison after jurors in his trial for the 2012 shooting spree failed to reach a unanimous decision on the death penalty.Effectively, the prosecution just blew two years and millions of dollars to get the same outcome that they could have had two years ago.
[Asshole] stood with his hands in his pockets as Judge Carlos Samour Jr read the jury’s decision, which was reached after about six and a half hours over two days. In order for a death sentence to be handed down all 12 jurors must be unanimous in their decision.
In short, the prosecution lost. The only reason why they wanted to try this case was so they could fry Asshole. And they didn't get that.
They lost. And so did the taxpayers of Arapahoe County, who had to foot the bill for this farce.
Well, given the average numbers, it would have take 70 plus years of jail for the Asswipe to start costing the taxpayer more than a basic death penalty prosecution (guilty plea) and 10 to 15 years on death row. Since this wasn't the easy prosecution, it was probably more like your 3-5 million guess. Assuming 3 million and a quick jail stay (about 5 years minimum)' that's 3.25 million to the taxpayer. That would pay, on average, for about 130 years in jail, non-death row. Mathematically, it makes no sense; politically, it probably made sense until they failed to get the death penalty. A lose lose for the taxpayer, surprise surprise!
ReplyDeleteFigures, for those checking, are the same proffered by Faux News, BTW: $1,000,000 minimum to bring to trial with death penalty, 3-4 more accurate with a not guilty plea. Death row at $50,000/year, normal prison at $25,000/year. Unlike most Faux News data, this seems well grounded in several studies.