One Book "Journey Toward Justice" Changed My Mind About The Death Penalty

[ba219]

Who And Where Is Dennis Fritz, You say after reading John Grisham's Book "The Innocent man", Grisham's First non-fiction book. The Other Innocent Man hardly mentioned in "The Innocent Man" has his own compelling and fascinating story to tell in "Journey Toward Justice". John Grisham endorsed Dennis Fritz's Book on the Front Cover.
Dennis Fritz wrote his Book Published by Seven Locks Press, to bring awareness about False Convictions, and The Death Penalty. "Journey Toward Justice" is a testimony to the Triumph of the Human Spirit and is a Stunning and Shocking Memoir. Dennis Fritz was wrongfully convicted of murder after a swift trail. The only thing that saved him from the Death Penalty was a lone vote from a juror. "The Innocent Man" by John Grisham is all about Ronnie Williamson, Dennis Fritz's was his co-defendant. Ronnie Williamson was sentenced to the Death Penalty. Both were exonerated after spending 12 years in prison. They were set free because of a simple DNA test. The real killer was one of the Prosecution's Key Witness. John Grisham's "The Innocent Man" tells half the story. Dennis Fritz's Story needs to be heard. Read about how he wrote hundreds of letters and appellate briefs in his own defense and immersed himself in an intense study of law. He was a school teacher and a ordinary man from Ada Oklahoma, whose wife was brutally murdered in 1975.
On May 8, 1987 while raising his young daughter alone, he was put under arrest and on his way to jail on charges of rape and murder. Since then, it has been a long hard road filled with twist and turns. Dennis Fritz is now on his "Journey Toward Justice".
He never blamed the Lord and soley relied on his faith in God to make it through. He waited for God's time and never gave up.

[Auntie Venom]

I do not believe in the death penalty for many reasons, the innocent man principle being one of them. Watch "The Life of David Gale". While it is fiction, it will truly make you think.
I also believe that that racism and classism come into play where the death penalty is applied. Justice is not truly blind, it sees color and money very clearly. Until the playing field is leveled and the poor can get the same quality defense as the wealthy then I don't think it's right to kill people. It does not bring back their victim.
Lastly, I think that life in prison is a worse punishment. You'll never replicate the suffering of the victim in a decent society, so a nice quiet nap on a gurney is hardly fair. Living in captivity forever, constantly looking over you shoulder in fear? Much better. It brings to mind the things that Matthew Shepard's father said during his impact statement at the sentencing of his attackers. "I give you life and I hope it is a long life."
Just my opinion here...but I have to admit a little hypocrisy here. It didn't necessarily break my heart when McVeigh, Rolling and Bundy rode the lightning.

[grandma]

I believe in the death penalty. I am a pro death peanlty activist. i believe the death penalty is the only appropriate punishment for the crime of aggravated murder.

For those that are exonerated, it means that the system works. I am sure that no body can name one inmate who has been wrongfully executed since the reinstatement of the DP.

[Auntie Venom]

I can. There was a man in the eighties who was executed only to discover that the "eyewitness" who had put him and his wife away had perjured himself to cover his own guilt in the crime. I'll find the name for you.
There are many innocent men on death row, it only stands to reason that one or more have gone to the chair.

[grandma]

Please, if you can, find that name. I am a pro DP activist and there are no innocent inmates who have been executed since the reinstatment of the DP. I will gladly look into this and furnish whatever information I can find.

If someone is innocent, the system will exonerate them. The inmates are given every benefit of the doubt. The system bendds over backward to assure that their constitutional rights are not violated.

In reality, the system has freed guilty people

[schumiayrton]

I agree with grandma. In fact there are two topics.
Is DP right? yes, in my opinion, the criminal does not give a chance to the victim, and in some cases physical torture is added!
Is the DP accused really guilty? There has been terrible mistakes in the past. But now with DNA many mistakes can be avoided. When the case is obvious, when there is no doubt, when discrimination is not involved, then to me Dp is the solution.
Unfortunately here in France DP has been abolished; leniency is all around and we have never had such high criminal rate which our government tries to hide at times!
Another concern to me is the fact that serial killers should not be allowed to write books and have "fan club". That is revolting!

[ba219]

Who And Where Is Dennis Fritz, You say after reading John Grisham's Book "The Innocent man", Grisham's First non-fiction book. The Other Innocent Man hardly mentioned in "The Innocent Man" has his own compelling and fascinating story to tell in "Journey Toward Justice". John Grisham endorsed Dennis Fritz's Book on the Front Cover.
Dennis Fritz wrote his Book Published by Seven Locks Press, to bring awareness about False Convictions, and The Death Penalty. "Journey Toward Justice" is a testimony to the Triumph of the Human Spirit and is a Stunning and Shocking Memoir. Dennis Fritz was wrongfully convicted of murder after a swift trail. The only thing that saved him from the Death Penalty was a lone vote from a juror. "The Innocent Man" by John Grisham is all about Ronnie Williamson, Dennis Fritz's was his co-defendant. Ronnie Williamson was sentenced to the Death Penalty. Both were exonerated after spending 12 years in prison. They were set free because of a simple DNA test. The real killer was one of the Prosecution's Key Witness. John Grisham's "The Innocent Man" tells half the story. Dennis Fritz's Story needs to be heard. Read about how he wrote hundreds of letters and appellate briefs in his own defense and immersed himself in an intense study of law. He was a school teacher and a ordinary man from Ada Oklahoma, whose wife was brutally murdered in 1975.
On May 8, 1987 while raising his young daughter alone, he was put under arrest and on his way to jail on charges of rape and murder. Since then, it has been a long hard road filled with twist and turns. Dennis Fritz is now on his "Journey Toward Justice".
He never blamed the Lord and soley relied on his faith in God to make it through. He waited for God's time and never gave up.
Dennis Fritz will be appearing on Hannity and Colmes Feb.21, 2007 Wed.
Dennis Fritz is the Author of Journey Toward Justice.
Praise For Journey Toward Justice by John Grisham: "Journey Toward Justice" by: Dennis Fritz - The story of the unwarranted prosecution and wrongful conviction of Dennis Fritz is compelling and fascinating. After serving eleven years for a murder he did not commit, Dennis was exonerated and had the strength and courage to put his life back together.- John Grisham
Please watch this show and read his book Journey Toward Justice Amazing Story

For Information or Satellite Interviews, Questions on Book Tours or Speaking Locations with Dates or Requests For Speaking and Interviews with Dennis Fritz you can email him doc.fritz@yahoo.com
Please visit me at http://barbarasblogspot.blogspot.com

[n.n]

I believe in the death penalty. I am a pro death peanlty activist. i believe the death penalty is the only appropriate punishment for the crime of aggravated murder.

For those that are exonerated, it means that the system works. I am sure that no body can name one inmate who has been wrongfully executed since the reinstatement of the DP.

FYI:
(I'm sorry, I couldn't get the graph to show)
Death Row Exonerations by State
Total: 123
Since 1973, over 120 people have
been released from death row
with evidence of their innocence.
(Staff Report, House Judiciary
Subcommittee on Civil &
Constitutional Rights, Oct. 1993,
with updates from DPIC).
In 2000, 8 inmates were freed
from death row and exonerated;
in 2001 – 2002, another 9 were
freed; and in 2003, 12 were
exonerated. In 2004, there were 6
exonerations.

[Angie1960]

FYI:
(I'm sorry, I couldn't get the graph to show)
Death Row Exonerations by State
Total: 123
Since 1973, over 120 people have
been released from death row
with evidence of their innocence.
(Staff Report, House Judiciary
Subcommittee on Civil &
Constitutional Rights, Oct. 1993,
with updates from DPIC).
In 2000, 8 inmates were freed
from death row and exonerated;
in 2001 – 2002, another 9 were
freed; and in 2003, 12 were
exonerated. In 2004, there were 6
exonerations.

Great - & that's probably due in large part to DNA evidence which we didn't used to have - now if we KNOW a person is guilty by DNA evidence or even a confession they should be eligible for the death penalty.

I agree that is there is ANY question of guilt, they should not get the DP.

[wind149]

Nothing will ever change my mind about the death penalty. Work in law enforcement for awhile and you will know why I support it. You watch these pedophile pukes walk time and time again till they finally kill their victims to either cover-up their crime or killing them is the only way they get their rocks off like Couey. I would love to see him die as painfully as possible and there is no way in hell they have the wrong actor here. I know there are cases where people were on DR and were innocent but if you break those few cases down to the ones that actually did the crime, there would still be 98% sitting on death row across this country that are totally guilty and found to be so without a shadow of doubt. And those cases I would like to see be handed down a death sentence with no appeals process because there is no other suspect like Couey , no chance of anyone else being the killer of Jessica Lunsford. If we keep these maggots sitting on death row for years then we have people screaming the prisons are too overcrowded? Yeah and? If you execute scum like Couey 30 days after sentence is pronounced that frees up another cell for someone like him. Saves the taxpayers plenty of money trying to keep these scumbags alive for 12-20 years when they should have died 30 days after. Full prisons and revolving door on death row makes sense to me and it can be done. Does anyone here want Couey alive and breathing??? To sit for 12 years only to have a needle put in his arm? I would like Old Sparky to come back as now we have the bleeders whining LI is too inhumane. What I feel is inhumane is the length of time victims and their families have to wait before the maggots walk the mile. 12-20 years?? What is the point of making them sit that long? Hoping somebody will forget they are on death row for raping and killing a child? Blanche Taylor Moore, the notorious "Black Widow Killer" is still sitting on NC's death row and she has been there since 1989! She killed her father, her mother-in-law, one husband, one boyfriend and poisoned one husband who lived to tell about with with arsenic because she had a deep hatred towards men stemming from sexual abuse by her father and he would **** her out to gambling buddies. Now I know I would hate men myself if that happened to me but the boyfriend loved her, gave her everything and so did the last husband. She collected some insurance money out of the deal so that was the focal point of her DP case. I think by now she should pay for what she did and for what I was able to find out she is treated like royalty behind bars. guards love her. Another Velma Barfield. Both looking like kindly old grannies, who wouldn't harm a flea. Except Velma was executed in 1984. 17 years Blanche on death row. She should have gotten the chair in 1989. So for anyone who does not believe in the DP that is your right to your belief but I bet you would change your mind if you saw homicide photos, autopsy reports, listen to victims tell the story of who raped them, beat them and saw first hand what these maggots with twisted minds are capable of doing to children and adults.

[accordn2me]

I can. There was a man in the eighties who was executed only to discover that the "eyewitness" who had put him and his wife away had perjured himself to cover his own guilt in the crime. I'll find the name for you.
There are many innocent men on death row, it only stands to reason that one or more have gone to the chair. :no: He "was executed only to discover that the "eyewitness" who had put him and his wife away had perjured himself to cover his own guilt in the crime." :shrug:

Okey dokey.....I can't wait to see this story! :rolleyes:

[accordn2me]

..."name one inmate who has been wrongfully executed since the reinstatement of the DP."

You named a bunch of people who were exonerated and released. Just like grandma said, the system works.


FYI:
(I'm sorry, I couldn't get the graph to show)
Death Row Exonerations by State
Total: 123
Since 1973, over 120 people have
been released from death row
with evidence of their innocence.
(Staff Report, House Judiciary
Subcommittee on Civil &
Constitutional Rights, Oct. 1993,
with updates from DPIC).
In 2000, 8 inmates were freed
from death row and exonerated;
in 2001 – 2002, another 9 were
freed; and in 2003, 12 were
exonerated. In 2004, there were 6
exonerations.

[Wichita]

Little Gregory Poore was six years old. His step father detested him, because the little boy rebelled against his authority. Mom was suffering from Multiple Sclerosis, and was not able to corral the child to the step father's satisfaction.

One day, Gregory stayed after school to play with friends on the play ground instead of going straight home. At about 5:00 PM, his mother called his stepfather at his work, and told him that Gregory was not home. The step father left his job, and drove home. He parked near the trail head of the path that led from their mobile home park to the elementary school. The path passed through pasture land that was overgrown with mesquite trees, and tall broom sedge grass and weeds. He returned home to tell his wife that Gregory was missing, and to call the police. The following day, little Gregory was found with his throat cut at a place where the trail passed through a grove of Mesquite. He was lying on his back, holding his books under his left arm. His little right hand was locked around a clump of grass in his death grip. I will never forget the bloody glasses still perched on the little boy's nose. It told me that he never saw it coming. There was no struggle. No attempt to get away. Just a quick plunging of the blade into the little boy's throat, and quick slash toward the back of the neck, and the carotid was severed. Five minutes later, he was dead.

This murder happened in 1981. The step father pleaded guilty to second degree murder, and received 20 years. He was paroled in the mid nineties. The step mother has since died, but never divorced her murderous scum husband, as far as I know. It took place in Texas, the most blood thirsty, death administering state in the union according to DP opponents. Of course, this was during the moratorium. Only 20 years? Gimme a break....

If he hasn't re-offended, this killer is probably a poster child for some group decrying the cruelty of our system.

[TheBurning]

Wind 149,
For people like Bundy, Charles Ng, Gacy, etc., it must be tempting for someone in law enforcement (like you) to just blow their brains out and either say, “Ooops. My gun went off by mistake and fired 6 rounds into the heads these 'allegedly' sadistic serial killers,” or just say, “I shot them. Arrest me.”

I believe in the Death Penalty if and only if there is incontrovertible evidence that they are guilty of first degree murder (Gacy, Bundy, Ng, etc.).

I also believe in the Death Penalty if one of my boys or my wife was killed in first degree murder. Maybe that means that I would want revenge, but so be it.

But I must admit that I waiver on it for many situations. It really is an issue that, for me, is not "black or white" (I'm not referring to skin tones). There is, for me, a great deal of "gray" area in the Death Penalty issue.

[Joe Public]

I can. There was a man in the eighties who was executed only to discover that the "eyewitness" who had put him and his wife away had perjured himself to cover his own guilt in the crime. I'll find the name for you.
There are many innocent men on death row, it only stands to reason that one or more have gone to the chair.

Many people quote this very reason for opposing the DP. But all the times I have asked for names and cases all I get are news stories of supposed innocent men being convicted. When a judge says that a man that was executed is innocent then I will sit up and take notice.

Until someone can show me otherwise I will keep believe that we NEED the DP.

[Amy]

I see still no name to go w/the "eyewitness" turned actual perp.

So, was the wife also sentenced to death? Or was her sentence different (and maybe her charges?) Or, was she charged @ all?

Since someone has determined that "eyewitness turned perp" either committed the crime or was part of the crime, once that was found out, was he ever charge for anything?

[Grave Chaser]

I see one, and one thing only, wrong with the DP..... we don't use it enough! Hell, going forth with enforcing the DP would do a lot for our economy. Instead of shelling out (and I'm only guessing here) 50 to 100 grand (or possibly more) a year to house and feed each of the humdreds, probably more like thousands, of men and women who have been convicted due to DNA and/or eyewitness testimony, how about just putting them out to pasture and set everyones mind at ease while using the money in a more productive way? As for the appeals process, it just makes me vomit. A cold blooded killer caught red handed has NO RIGHT to an appeal. His/her victim didn't get an appeal, unless you count them begging for their life before it was taken.
And for those 'innocent' on death row, we can use the money saved from finally getting rid of psychos like Ramirez, Ng, etc..., and pay for DNA testing (or whatever else can be used for the process of eliminating them as the perp) that was not available at the time of convition for these prisoners and exonerate them, if possible. But if the testing comes back as GUILTY AS CHARGED, they get a free pass to the front of the line.
Also, for the bleeding hearts who pull the GOD card (HE forgives and loves ALL of his children), you look at the pictures, read the testimony, talk to the families and then tell me that GOD is going to accept this person in heaven because he/she says "Golly, God. I'm sorry. I don't want to die" (HUMANLEY, unlike their victim who was probably terrorized and tortured in spite of their own pleas)? I think not. There is a reason for hell and these people belong there.

[Amy]

And they get medical care that many people can't afford. How about the guy (I think in TX) who was petitioning that he could not be executed until his prosthetic leg was replaced--I think he was going for one of the newest, most up-to-date real looking one that probably had electronics that helped move it, etc. GMAB!!! Like, no one was going to see what kind of prosthetic he had on under his striped suit, and no one would see what kind (or even if) he had on in his casket!!!!

We're going to spend HOW MUCH so a POS can "feel good" about himself as he is marched to the execution chamber? Wonder how "good" his victims felt-and did he give them the chance to look their best as he murdered them? I DON'T SUPPOSE SO!!!! Yet, HE thinks HE should get the best of the best. (This place needs a triple puke icon.)

[Grave Chaser]

Whomever said "Crime Doesn't Pay" in turning in their grave as we speak! Damn, maybe I should quit being a law abiding, tax paying citizen and go out and kill someone. Then I could hang out in my cell, napping on and off all day, read all those classic novels I swore I'd read before I die, have my meals delivered to my room, watch all the Springer reruns and Cinemax soft core porn I can handle, find a groupie to marry and get some alone time for some boom chica boom boom, and finally get that toothache I've had taken care of! In the words of Yakov Smirnoff WHAT A COUNTRY!

[wind149]

As I stated a year ago, here, that I am for the DP and nothing could ever change my mind! And yeah, working in LE, there were a few real POS's that in mind deserved the death penalty for what they did to innocent child because of their twisted desires and IMO, all child molesters, rapists, and killers should be dead! And yes, I will admit there have been people on DR that were found to be innocent, but very, very few and with most, DNA was a factor in determining that, not some guy who came out of the woodwork and claimed he did it. One guy was days away from being fried and his lawyer found two witnesses to the crime that decided that the real truth had to be told. The defendant was accused and convicted because he was black and for no other reason. A white teen was dragged into a bathroom at a school and raped and murdered. Two janitors who are white testified they saw the black man go into the bathroom and heard the girl yell help and they lied through their tooth for 20 years till a lawyer made them feel ashamed as they were told by the WHITE prosecutor and TX Ranger that they had to say it was the black man and they owned up to the fact that it was a white janitor who did it, but they could not make a case because evidence had been destroyed, how handy is that is huh?, the prosecutor had it destroyed because to this day, that racist pig still swears it was the black man and so does the girl's racist father, and the black man was set free. Now he was innocent, but I would say 99% of DR inmates NOWADAYS are not innocent as DNA would have cleared them before they were charged. New technology for forensics, new computer tools, pretty hard to beat the system, especially if there is DNA evidence, such as saliva, semen, blood, they can test a minute amount of DNA even decades old, so if there are any innocent people out there and can get a DNA test, then maybe they will be ruled innocent, but this figure is very low! And I believe that they need to bring back the electric chair, at least, there, the last thing scumbags like Couey will feel is pain, Jessie felt pain for three days ,and then 8-10 minutes while she suffocated to death, why should that POS scumbag just get a needle and go to sleep?

[Twinners]

Please, if you can, find that name. I am a pro DP activist and there are no innocent inmates who have been executed since the reinstatment of the DP. I will gladly look into this and furnish whatever information I can find.

If someone is innocent, the system will exonerate them. The inmates are given every benefit of the doubt. The system bendds over backward to assure that their constitutional rights are not violated.

In reality, the system has freed guilty people
I don't know that this is the person the original poster was thinking of or not, but this seems to be a case of an innocent man being executed.

Witness Clears Man Executed In Texas for 1985 Slaying

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

HOUSTON -- A decade after Ruben Cantu was executed for capital murder, the only witness to the crime is recanting and his co-defendant says Cantu, then 17, was not even with him that night.

The victim was shot nine times with a rifle during an attempted robbery before the gunman shot the only witness.

That witness, Juan Moreno, told the Houston Chronicle for its Sunday editions that Cantu was not the killer. Moreno said he identified him at the 1985 trial because he felt pressured and feared authorities.

Cantu, who had maintained his innocence, was executed on Aug. 24, 1993, at age 26. "Texas murdered an innocent person," co-defendant David Garza said.

Sam D. Millsap Jr., the district attorney who handled the case, said he never should have sought the death penalty in a case based on testimony from a witness who identified a suspect only after police showed him a photo three times.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/21/AR2005112101384.html

[Twinners]

Man executed on disproved forensics
Man executed on disproved forensics
Fire that killed his 3 children could have been accidental

By Steve Mills and Maurice Possley | Tribune staff reporters
December 9, 2004

CORSICANA, Texas - Strapped to a gurney in Texas' death chamber earlier this year, just moments from his execution for setting a fire that killed his three daughters, Cameron Todd Willingham declared his innocence one last time.

"I am an innocent man, convicted of a crime I did not commit," Willingham said angrily. "I have been persecuted for 12 years for something I did not do."

While Texas authorities dismissed his protests, a Tribune investigation of his case shows that Willingham was prosecuted and convicted based primarily on arson theories that have since been repudiated by scientific advances. According to four fire experts consulted by the Tribune, the original investigation was flawed and it is even possible the fire was accidental.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0412090169dec09,0,4934450.story?page=1