Gov. John Kitzhaber has stopped executions in his state.
In a prepared statement, the Democrat said his state had a “long and turbulent history with capital punishment.” Gov. Kitzhaber, who has presided over two executions as governor, said:
I do not believe that those executions made us safer; and certainly they did not make us nobler as a society. And I simply cannot participate once again in something I believe to be morally wrong.
In making this decision, the governor halted the scheduled Dec. 6 execution of two-time convicted killer Gary Haugen.
Here in Connecticut, eyes are on a New Haven court room, where jurors are to watch the videotaped testimony of the daugher of Joshua Komisarjevsky, who could face the death penalty for his role in a 2007 home invasion in Cheshire where a woman and her daughters were assaulted, and killed. Komisarjevsky’s accomplice, Steven Hayes, is already on death row.
Dating Jesus 
I applaud Gov. Kitzhaber.
I think the video is going to backfire on the defense. He did this horrific act while he himself had a small daughter at home? That makes it even more horrifying. Skip the video, beg for a life sentence without possibility of parole.
Thus far, none of the defense has held water for me. I oppose the death penalty, and would rather see this man in jail for the rest of his life, but I don’t find any of his defense to be plausible.
I think it’s a terrible position to put this child in. If he is given the death penalty, how will she internalize her part in the trial, I wonder? And, given what her so called father did to Michaela Petit, I can’t help but wonder what he may be guilty of with his own daughter or other children. This little girl has enough to deal with – I wish they wouldn’t involve her in the trial.
It does sound like JK had a tough childhood, but that doesn’t justify hurting anybody, ever.
I think the decision to involve this little girl is obscene. What do they expect her to do? She will say she wants her Dad to live. I oppose the death penalty but want him put away in a very dark place forever. Leave his daughter out of it. Her therapy will be lifelong as it is.
This is my theory, but if we didn’t have the death penalty in this state, I wonder if the defense would go to what I consider such drastic measures. Then again, maybe they would.