Two potential death penalty cases have been in the news lately. One involves the murder of Chelsea King earlier this year in San Diego by John Gardner. That has earned world wide media attention. The other involved the murder of Yolo County Deputy Sheriff Tony Diaz by gang member Marco Antonio Topete in June 2008. It is the big news around the Sacramento region.
The father of Chelsea King made a difficult but wise decision by supporting a plea bargain that will mean that Gardner dies in prison. This saves the taxpayers millions of dollars in the initial case and the appeals. This case would have been a media circus and cost San Diego County a fortune. It also will bring some closure to a community that has had to deal with the horror of this crime.
The problem is one that was identified when Chelsea’s father Brent said, "While our unequivocal first choice is the death penalty, we acknowledge that in California that penalty has become an empty promise."
He is so right. The most likely cause of death on California death row in old age.
So here in Yolo County we are going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars seeking the death penalty for Topete. District Attorney Jeff Reisig is absolutely doing his job. I am willing to bet that he gets a conviction too.
This will cost the taxpayers of Yolo County and the State of California millions over the pathetic life of Marco Antonio Topete.
The problem is that state law and the courts have set up a process that makes the death penalty the joke that Brent King points out.
Death penalty opponents have throw so many obstacles in the way of the punishment that it has become cost prohibitive in terms of money and the impact on the family of the victim.
Brent King and his family are owed our prayers as they try to deal with the loss of Chelsea but he has also saved the taxpayers of San Diego millions of dollars that the media circus would have cost in a trial to seek a penalty that would have never been paid.
I fully support the death penalty, if it were actually used. However, I really have to wonder if it is worth the cost when it is almost never carried out and we have to spend millions of dollars each time it is sought. When you throw in the cost to the family of the victim it clearly does not seem worth it.