Judicial System Failures

Judicial System Failures

Once again it is made apparent that California's Judicial System is under much scrutiny. Due to the recent juror dismissal in the ongoing death penalty case of "The State vs. Marco Antonio Topete", the man found guilty of killing Yolo County Sheriff's Deputy Jose Antonio Diaz after a car chase in June 2008. It seems that justice for the Yolo County Sheriff's Deputy and his family is going to be delayed. Because of this poorly handled case by Judge Paul K. Richardson of the Yolo County Superior Court, there is a very good chance this case will lead to a mistrial. It is baffling, that in a case of such magnitude there can be such elementary professionals running the show.

Juror no.11 a women whose name is redacted in court files was recently relieved of her duties; she claims that her limited understanding of the English language hinders her ability to make a death penalty decision in this case. However Juror no.11 had no such issue in voting to convict Topete on all counts during the guilt phase of the trail. Also during jury selection Juror no.11 said she would have no issue keeping an open mind about the penalty phase and says, "I think that some special words maybe I won't be able to understand... but, regular speech, I am fluent in regular speech and in understanding it" (Hudson Sangree 2012, January 4). With that said, Juror no.11 who stated she was more than capable of performing all duties that are asked of her, is still relieved as juror.

In a recent statement to defense investigators, Juror no.6 whose name is also redacted in court files, says that Juror no.11 was an educated woman who would constantly work on crossword puzzles during breaks and had numerous conversations with him in English. Juror no.6 also states that Juror no.11's difficulty was not because of language but because she disagreed with other Jurors about applying the death penalty to Topete. These are facts that do nothing but add fuel to the fire for means of a mistrial.

How is it that our Judicial System continues to get it wrong? More importantly how does a paroled convict with a history of violence get an opportunity to conduct such heinous acts once again (San Francisco Chronicle 2008, June 17). What are we to tell the family members, including the three daughters that Deputy Diaz has left behind? Is a simple "OOPS" are bad, going to be justification for the inexcusable miss handling of this case. We are told that Justice is blind in the Judicial System, that doesn't mean it has to be deaf and stupid to boot.

References:

Dismissal of juror in cop killer's case challenged. (2012, January 4) by Hudson Sangree. Retrieved from p. A1 hsangree@sacbee.com,