To have one’s name on that list is a nightmare in itself. This list- a never-ending file- paralyzes a man once the pounding gavel inscribes his name onto the page.
When Fate examines this list, it approaches each name like a ghost; those etchings on the page cower before the ominous shadow that lingers above their heads. These souls pray and beg for Fate to pass over their name.
But deaf to their desperate pleas, Fate crosses off each item one by one, preying upon the remaining victims as they wince in rhythm to the scaring of the parchment.
The death penalty has existed in every form of government ever since a people developed into a civilization. For hundreds of years, society, regardless of culture, has used the death penalty as the “ultimate punishment.” Any individual on the death row dreads the idea of experiencing this sentence; it is a nightmare that pries open their soul.
Over the years, society has adopted this horrendous form of punishment as a part of their judicial systems. In most judicial settings, the death penalty brings forth a closure to any debatable case. It is a sentence that, regardless of the scenario, fulfills the satisfying punishment: death. In a criminal investigation, the death penalty provides a sense of peace for the victim and his family; the convicted criminal would be forever silenced, and life could carry on with comfort and relief.
But what if such a conviction was thrust towards the wrong man?
In 1983, Kenneth “Kenny” Waters “was convicted [of a] 1980 murder of a neighbor…in his hometown of Ayer, Massachusetts.” (Perez) His conviction was based on the testimonies “of two former girlfriends who said [that] Waters confessed to the murder and on the blood type found at the crime scene.” (Perez) Because Massachusetts did not have the death penalty, Waters was sentenced to life in prison.
However, Betty Anne Waters, Waters’ younger sister, fought for her brother’s innocence. After attending law school to become her brother’s attorney, Betty Anne searched for and located blood sample evidence from her brother’s trial. In the late 1980s, DNA testing became a major component of criminal investigation. Since this new innovation proved effective, Betty Anne persuaded the court to DNA test the samples of blood evidence against samples from her brother.
The result: the samples did not match.
Because of this small piece of evidence, Kenny Waters was exonerated and later released in 2001 after eighteen years in prison. (Perez)
Waters was one of many individuals who were saved through the innovation of DNA testing. Because of developing technology, Waters was able to walk out of that prison as a free man. As technology has grown over the years, it has enabled judicial systems to avoid false judgments, such as those made in the Waters Case. New technical knowledge has allowed courts to expand upon their understanding of debatable issues. As a result, courts are now capable of finding those missing pieces to complete those unsolved, mysterious puzzles.
Although society has developed and improved technology, judicial settings cannot rely upon these present innovations alone; there is a possibility that any case- whether of the past or present- continues to lack a vital piece of the puzzle.
Because technology has become a part of the judicial process, courts rely upon the evidence produced by current mechanisms- and upon these mechanisms alone- to construct a decision. However, the technology used to gather these pieces of evidence may always be a step behind in producing the truth of any case.
When Waters was convicted of murder, criminal investigation had not yet developed the method of DNA testing. But in the following years, technology developed to the extent in which science saved his life and released hundreds of others from imprisonment and the death penalty. Yes, technology is highly advanced, but it is an art that continues to develop day by day; each new minute of discovery provides an entire decade with breakthrough innovations. There is always a single piece of evidence that could save a life, but the technology used to uncover this confirmation may be miles away.
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