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La
corte federale d'appello della California ha annullato una
condanna a morte sostenendo che non era lecita l'impostazione
dell'accusa secondo la quale la pena andava inflitta per
rispettare la volonta' di Dio. Per l'accusa ''distruggere il corpo
mortale dell'imputato omicida e' la sola maniera per dargli la
salvezza eterna''; il procuratore, inoltre, rivolgendosi ai
giurati aveva detto: ''non e' che dovete prendere il posto di Dio,
ma fare quello che Dio indica''. Piu' in generale, il richiamo
alla volonta' ed alle indicazioni divine era stato il 'leit motiv'
dell'accusa nella sua richiesta di sentenza capitale. Proprio
questo approccio ha convinto i giudici federali ad annullare la
sentenza (con una votazione di due a uno) perche' all'imputato
sarebbe stato negato un processo equo. L'uomo condannato a morte
''per salvare la sua anima'' si chiama Alfred Sandoval, ed e'
accusato di alcuni omicidi avvenuti a Los Angeles nel 1984. In
seguito alla decisione della corte federale, Sandoval subira' un
nuovo processo.
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Court:
Prosecutors Can't Invoke God for Death Penalty
A
federal appeals court panel overturned a death sentence passed
against a convicted murderer on Monday, saying prosecutors should
not have argued that God sanctioned capital punishment.
In
vacating the death sentence against Alfred Sandoval, the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals said it was improper for prosecutors to
suggest to the jury that ``destroying Sandoval's mortal body might
be the only way to save Sandoval's eternal soul.'' He also said
the penalty would be a wake-up call.
``Sandoval
was denied a fair penalty phase trial by the prosecutor's closing
argument that invoked divine authority,'' a three-judge panel from
the court found in its 2-1 ruling.
The
defendant, a former gang member, had been convicted of four
murders in Los Angeles in 1984. In the penalty phase of the trial,
the prosecutor repeatedly invoked God's authority as a rationale
for imposing the death penalty, telling the jury that they would
not be playing God but ``doing what God says'' by sentencing
Sandoval to die.
``This
might be the only opportunity to wake him up,'' the prosecutor
said. ``God will destroy the body to save the soul. Make him get
himself right.''
The
jury, which had initially deadlocked on the question of the death
penalty, returned a death sentence.
The
9th Circuit Court of Appeals, siding against the California
Supreme Court in the case, said the prosecutor's line of argument
was ``improper and highly prejudicial'' and created the
possibility that jury members could disregard the legal questions
before them in favor of ``an asserted higher law.''
``This
is strong medicine,'' the court's majority opinion, by Justice
Mary Schroeder, said. ``The message was clear: those who have
opposed the ordinance of God should fear the sword-bearing state,
whose task, as an avenging minister of God, is to bring wrath upon
those who, like Sandoval, practice evil.'' That implication, the
justices argued, was enough to deny Sandoval his right to a fair
trial in the penalty phase of the case. The appeals court justices
vacated the death penalty and remanded the case to the lower
court, where state prosecutors may seek to retry the penalty phase
of the case.
If
they do not, Sandoval's death sentence will be commuted to life in
prison. |
