It can't get much more clear than that. For those who think I'm a misguided, loony conspiracy theorist, I invite you to check the public record in Mike McGarity v. Roger Shuler, CV 00-124, and then read Voyager Guar. Ins. Co. v. Brown. That will show you that J. Michael Joiner is, in fact, corrupt--and it's not a matter of anyone's opinion.
Back to the matter at hand: We have a demonstrably corrupt judge overseeing what appears to be a deeply flawed trial that could result in a man wrongfully being sent to death.
Is Ryan Gerald Russell a troubled individual? It sure looks like it. Would I want my child left in his care? Not in a million years. Do we have any proof that he actually fired the gun that killed Katherine Helen Gillespie? I don't see it. Do we have any proof that he intended to kill his young cousin? I don't see that, either.
Should we allow J. Michael Joiner, with his documented record of unethical behavior, to send anyone to death row? No, we should not.
Will there be any means of correcting what appear to be numerous mistakes in this trial--once the state has killed Ryan Gerald Russell. No, there will not.
Tragically, we cannot bring Katherine Helen Gillespie back. By all accounts, she was a beautiful, cheerful, loving, smart little girl with a bright future. We should use her death to closely examine a justice system that is badly broken. A system that cannot get the simplest of civil matters right has no business taking anyone's life.
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