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Subscribe to RSSA military appeals court has overturned the death sentence of Lance Cpl. Kenneth G. Parker, who had been the only Marine on the military’s death row, according to court documents.
In 1995, Parker was sentenced to death after being convicted of two counts of premeditated murder, and one count of armed robbery and kidnapping. The appeals court threw out one of the two murder counts on Wednesday, and instead of the death penalty, Parker will spend the rest of his life in prison.
The first murder took place during a night of drinking and talk of racial tensions on March 26, 1992, according to court documents.
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While a group of six African-American Marines talked at Camp Lejeune, N.C., a rumor was circulating that a group of white Marines had tried to lynch an African-American Marine on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.
A witness in legal proceedings testified that Parker said, “We are going to get us a white boy tonight.”
The men left the base and traveled to nearby Jacksonville, where Parker, carrying a loaded shotgun, picked out white Marine Lance Cpl. Rodney Page and shot him in the upper abdomen after he begged for his life.
In another killing several nights later, Parker allegedly shot and killed Lance Cpl. Christopher James, the husband of a woman having an affair with a fellow Marine, with the same weapon. It was in that case in which the court found numerous problems with the trial judge’s improper admission of evidence and other errors.
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“The appellant’s premeditated murder of LCpl Page, his fellow Marine, was carried out with chilling callousness and depravity,” Judge J.A. Maksym wrote in the opinion. “We have upset aspects of this verdict and will set aside the death penalty due to numerous and substantive procedural and legal failures at trial, some leading to constitutional deprivation. Yet no error by the trial judge below should distract us from the overwhelming evidence of the appellant’s guilt as to the robbery and murder of LCpl Page. This was truly a heinous killing and, minus the errors cited above, assuming the death penalty was awarded, we would have affirmed.”
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, five men remain on the military’s death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. The last military execution took place on April 13, 1961, when U.S. Army Private John A. Bennett was hanged after being convicted of rape and attempted murder.
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Racism is still rampant in the US military.
It wasn't the US military that was racist. It was clearly the killer, and possibly you.
A racist that was still convicted of another murder that was not overturned and should be executed for it. Pointless and a waste of taxpayers money to keep him alive in a prison for life, paying to have someone watch him, feed him, give medical treatment, when he proved he cannot live in society. A bullet $.60, a good rope $30 and you can reuse it.
Where is reverend Al at? Oh wait it is a black marine getting only life for killing a white marine. If it had been a white marine who killed a black marine he would be crying racism.
Yes, on both sides. You did read that the killer was black and the victim was white right?
Procedural errors? How about proceeding to just kill the SOB?
I believe that there are crimes so heinous that the death penalty is the only recourse. I also believe that because this is the only sentence that once executed is absolute and cannot be rescinded, the utmost care must be taken, that every step of the process by which a person is convicted and so sentenced must be examined and re-examined, and that any error, no matter how slight, is grounds to invalidate the sentence. These things must be done out of respect for the life we've decided must be sacrificed, so we can do this horrible thing and live with our consciences
The court did the right thing by overturning the sentence.
AC
There was no error in the first murder, which was clearly premeditated. So one murder isn't enough to warrant the death penalty? The court did the wrong thing in overturning the verdict.
I agree also with the court. People should note that this decision was not swayed by a jury.
Criminal Justice statistics show that it is often cheaper to keep somone for life in prison than to issue capitol punishment. Tragic story. I don't care if he is put to death or not as long as he is not released, it doesn't physically affect the rest of society and there is no chance of a repeat offense.
I was under the impression that a person could be tried under the UCMJ and a public criminal trial. I wonder what happened with that. Maybe it doesn't matter if he has 'life' without parole. I don't know.
It seems like a lot of Racial stories are getting published by NBC right before the election. I don't like that.
msnbc put Rodney Kings Death up on the pop ups (which is old news, really old) instead of this? Hmmm. They have some crap priorities in my book. They just keep reporting all the stuff to stir the racial hatred more and try to divide the country politically.
Gotta remind the black community of Rodney King on one hand and with the other hand, this story for the white side. Don't anyone fall for this mainipulative bull crap. Read between the lines and see it for what it really is. Carefully timed reporting for the election.
Well, the death penalty will certainly make certain that those in the military don't go around killing people... oh,
wait,
never mind.
Two things:
First:
"It costs too much to feed, clothe and house a convicted criminal for that long..."
We've got to STOP talking about the dollar value of a given punishment in the same breath as we are talking about whether the punishment itself is just or unjust. Wny? Because "too much' only has meaning if "exactly right" and "not enough" are aleady known. And that means that the speaker believes that there is a dollar value that can be assigned to each human's life. That some people are worth more than others and if they do commit a crime housing, feeding and clothing them for however long is needed is worth the cost. Others, however, have so little value that they don't deserve 1 night free at the local Circle 6.
This is exactly what western civilization has been working to change since the Magna Carta was signed , and is exactly what the 1% IS TRYING SO DESPERATELY TO REINSTATE. That some people are just better than others, and that dollars is the right way to measure how much better they are.
The cost of a punishment is appropriate to consider and it should be considered, but not when deciding how to apply the punishment, and DEFINITELY not in terms of ehether the one being punished is worth the dollars lost. Remove the assumption that a human can be measured in dollars from the conversation, and instead of "it's too expensive to feed and clothe low-life scum while we keep them locked up" it becomes "this method of correction is very expensive. Are there less costly ways to exact the same degree of punishment? Should we be punishing or correcting? What is the right way for a mature civilization to manage the selfish acts of its citizens?"
A punishment and the cost of exacting it must be measured by the nature and severity of the act, not the relative value of the actor.
Second:
The Military, properly used, are exactly the same as the death penalty properly applied. When the military is used as the last resort, all other ways of correcting the behavior of a state acting selfishly have failed and the military is the agent of the last recourse against the acts of a criminal. When the military is used first (listen up, Dubya..) they are the criminal.
AC
He still has a life sentence, so he's still eligible if we want to put together another "Dirty Dozen" mission. Now if we could find Lee Marvin to lead it . . . . . .
Procedural process overturning an obvious result is sad. Unfortunately less deliberation is taken with sending Marines into combat, where they will undoubtedly suffer casualties and some of them will die. If there is an ethical process regarding the need to exhaust every possible alternative, it should apply throughout and not just to the advantage of the guilty. By his own admission and all the evidence he did committ the crime. Oh well, it's not like my opinion matters anyway...'Cause we got Peyton Manny...ha,ha,ha...and you don't...surrender all hope, Peyton (only his staunchest fans can call him Peyton) is in Denver, ha,ha,ha............................
The crime that was not overturned should have been enough for the death penalty. I'd be willing to throw the switch on this demented individual.
Sure smacks of some influence from the Commander in Chief.
Bullsh*t! What it smacks of is a judge trying to salvage some justice out of a screw up by the original judge which could easily, with a good lawyer who has ZERO respect for the public at large, put a sick racist killer back on the streets!
Well, he'll spend the rest of his life in prison. No parole here. I wonder if any part of it includes 'hard labor'?
He went before the parole board yesterday.
In prison with the marines. Now that's my idea of real HELL. wouldn't want to be in his shoes.
if the killer and victim had been reversed i'd bet the white Marine would have been put to death years ago..
Its a race thing. Our government protects Blacks from the full punishment of their deeds. Some general somewhere is sucking up to Obama.
Wait... wait... wait... You mean to tell me that he was found guilty of saying “We are going to get us a white boy tonight", and then going out and shooting a white guy as he pleaded for his life... but... it was because of issues with a completely DIFFERENT murder he was tried for, that his death sentence was commuted?? Are you serious?
And why wasn't this race crime all over the news from one end of the nation to the other? Why isn't this black guy's name a household name? Where was the group vilification of blacks through the media?
Some good questions. It seems like they are going with 'better safe than sorry'.
Maybe it was. The trial was in 1995. Do you remember everything that was in the news from 1995?
It was kept hush hush because of the racial aspect. It should have been all over nationally but Rodney King who actually lived, took priority I guess.
Kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it!!
What a nice story, wander who cracked first
I wonder if this would have happened if the criminal had not served the military. I am so sick and tired of people kissing anyone who serves our country's butt. I wish you all had an idea of the scum that are receiving compensation from VA. They aren't any different than the general population, and yet everyone says, "OMG! They gave their lives for our country." Give me a break.
"The trial was in 1995."
But THIS is happening now. Where is the outrage? Where is the change.org petition? Where are the rallies for revenge? Where are the "no justice, no peace" placards? Where are the news article decrying the evil of racism?
Oh yeah, black people can't be racist so there's always another reason. Like, robbery, bad drug deals, victim of ancestral enslavement, etc etc ad nauseum.
Remember how all you "enlightened" ones cried "racist" over the white guy in Oklahoma that killed two innocent black men in anger over his father being murdered by a black guy? Well... where are you now? At least in the Oklahoma case there was an ACTUAL MURDER, in this case he killed only because of a rumor.
Like CME mgmt said, "kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it!" Yep.
portable adobe wall
Enough with the racism card being played over and over again! I don't care if it was a white on black or black on white crime. This a**hole committed 2 brutal and senseless crimes and should be punished accordingly (death penalty).
Enough of the" where is Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson" crap.
Why continue to rehash this same old boring, tired ass comment again and again and again?
The government should fake his execution......it's the military that put him in the situation he's in now. Duh!