Carlos Deluna Trial

On December 7, 1989, the state of Texas executed 27-year old Carlos Deluna for the stabbing of a gas station clerk. The trial drew local attention, but not concern that a guiltless man would be punished while the killer ran free. Chicago Tribune published a three-part investigative series implicating another individual and discrediting the evidence found against DeLuna. Columbia University law professor James Liebman and his team of students believe they have proven Texas gave a lethal injection to the wrong man. Correspondingly, DeLuna affirmed his innocence from the moment police arrested him until the day he was executed. Prosecutors and police had ignored tips in the case files that Carlos Hernandez, an older friend of Deluna, who had a reputation for

numerous assaults wielding a distinct blade, had committed the crime. The defense failed to track down Hernandez, who also exhibited a striking resemblance to DeLuna. Furthermore, eyewitness statements conflicted with one another, and crime scene photos of a bloody footprint along with blood spatter on the walls suggested that the killer would have blood on his shoes and pants, yet DeLuna’s clothes were clean.

The presumably real killer, Carlos Hernandez, was a repeat violent offender who had a history of slashing women with his knife. In fact, various of Hernandez’ family members interviewed for the Columbia University report determined the pictures of the murder weapon retrieved from the gas station looked similar to the knife Hernandez habitually kept with him. The report, specifically more than 400 pages long, was turned over to the Chicago Tribune which then published a three-part series in 2006 that procured evidence suggesting that Hernandez was the true suspect. Numerous people revealed to the Tribune that Hernandez-who died in 1999 in prison of a liver disease-had confessed to the killing of that harrowing night. Essentially, negligent police work, the prosecution’s failure to pursue another suspect, and a weak defense fused to send DeLuna to death row. “There are many cases out there that nobody has ever looked at and are probably at risk of innocence,” said

Liebman. “It’s a cautionary tale about the risks we take when we have the death penalty.” Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the legally authorized killing of someone as a punishment for a crime. It is generally carried out to murder offenses and other capital crimes. Following its reinstatement in 1976, the death penalty has divided the country in half. Notably, even though there are many supporters, there is also a substantial amount of opposers. The basic reason is the moral and humanitarian questions attached to it. In other words, does the death penalty actually render justice to victims, or instead fosters interminable vengeance? According to the NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, the murder rate for North Carolina actually declined following a halt in using executions as a form of punishment. The coalition also states that, “Most people on death row committed their crimes in the heat of passion, while under influence of drugs or alcohol, or while suffering from mental illness. They represent a group that is highly unlikely to make rational decisions based on a fear of future consequences for their actions.” As a matter of fact, statistics and a multitude of studies demonstrate that states without the death penalty have consistently lower murder-rates than states with it. Is the death penalty a deterrent to crime, and is it unconstitutional in violation of the 8th and 14th Amendments? Should our corrections system be about rehabilitating criminals and protecting society, or enacting a pound of flesh to feel better about ourselves? Could America survive without the death penalty? The death penalty is a ceaseless problem that needs to be solved.