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Beaumont Enterprise Examines Texas Death Penalty & Sentencing

By Steve Hall

The Enterprise report is, "Option of life means fewer get death," written by Sonja Garza. In 1998, it took only 12 minutes for a Jefferson County jury to decide Elroy Chester should die.Twelve minutes - one minute for each juror - to sentence a man to death.The jury's decision in the fatal shooting of Port Arthur fireman Willie Ryman III was the culmination of what was described as the worst crime spree in the county's history.And while the circumstances surrounding Chester's crime wave - in which prosecutors alleged five people were killed, five more were shot and three girls were raped - were extreme, such a verdict is less likely today.In fact, it is rare that a Texas jury even arrives at a death verdict anymore, experts say...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on March 02, 2011 (boomark / email).