Question below...
The US Supreme Court held that imposition of the death penalty on a person who aids and abets a felony in the course of which a murder is committed by others but who does not himself kill, attempt to kill, or intend to kill violates the 8th and 14th Amendments of the US Constitution. (Edmund v. Florida 458 US 782, 1982)
Five years after the Edmund decision the Supreme Court created an exception to this general rule for those guilty of a murder that occurs in the commission of a felony who do not kill or intend to kill, but who have major personal involvement in the felony and display a reckless indifference to human life. (Tison v. Arizona, 481 US 137, 1987)
I presume Tison v. Arizona covers "inciting a person to commit murder." such as egging your partner on to "Kill him... Kill hm".
We have a case like that up here in Canada.
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The circumstances of the murder conviction:
Matthew Martins was just 16 when he left this world. He was beaten to death at Surrey Central SkyTrain station in the early morning hours of July 2, 2005.
Robert Forslund, 29, and Katherine Quinn, 24, were convicted in April of killing Matthew and are serving life sentences for second-degree murder. Forslund must serve 17 years before applying for parole and Quinn, 10 years. Quinn is appealing her conviction.
Forslund, tall and powerfully built, viciously beat Matthew, only five feet three inches tall and 125 pounds, and left him for dead. Quinn was convicted of inciting her boyfriend to attack, an accusation she denies still.
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VANCOUVER — The parents of 16-year-old murder victim Matthew Martins are calling for bail reform after they left B.C. Court of Appeal deeply disappointed Friday by an adjourned hearing.
David Toner and Sandra Martins-Toner will return to court on July 22 for another bail hearing for 27-year-old Katherine Quinn after the judge ruled Friday there was insufficient evidence to make a ruling.
Quinn was one of two people convicted of second-degree murder in Matthew’s killing outside the Surrey Central SkyTrain station in the early hours of July 2005.
Earlier this year, Quinn successfully won an appeal and is now seeking bail pending the new trial.
Matthew’s parents say they are “re-victimized” every time they return to court and would like to see bail reformed to make it much more difficult for those convicted or accused of violent crimes to be released.
In the mean time, the family say they are “praying” that Quinn will not be released.
“It’s really tough. I understand justice has to be served but the unfortunate reality of the way the justice system works is the victims keep being dragged through the process and we’re always treated as collateral damage with everyone focusing on the rights of the offender,” said David Toner, Matthew’s stepfather.
Sandra clutched a photo of her son as she sat through the hour-long hearing Friday and wept as details of Matthew’s death were rehashed.
But at the end of the hearing, Justice Pamela Kirkpatrick said she felt she was being asked to make a ruling without up-to-date information on Quinn’s progress in prison.
As such, the bail hearing was rescheduled to allow time for defence lawyer Jim Millar to submit the reports.
Matthew’s parents have written to Solicitor-General Kash Heed requesting a meeting on the role of the provincial government in lobbying Ottawa for bail reform.
In addition to much stricter guidelines for awarding bail, the family also wants to see better supervision of those who are released.
“I don’t think bail should be an automatic get-out-of-jail-free card. I think it should awarded a lot more carefully and in particular where there’s an indication of violence. People shouldn’t just be awarded bail automatically,” said Toner.
The Martins-Toner home in Surrey is just 10 blocks away from Quinn’s parents, and Sandra worries she could run into the woman on the street if she’s released.
The family say it’s incredibly difficult to heal with an ongoing court case that seems to have no end.
“With a new trial and should that not go their way, they can then apply to the Supreme Court of Canada for another appeal. I don’t know where the end is. I’m praying for an end. But I don’t know where it is,” said Martins-Toner.
lsin
Vancouver Province
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Too bad, we can't draw precedence from US Code up here in Canada, since our justice system is based on British Common Law.