You have to wonder: Are there also people on death row who are innocent? How many have already been executed because new evidence didn't crop up in time?
A state legislator in Texas now is calling for an investigation into the case of Ruben Cantu.
Cantu was executed in Texas in 1993 after being convicted of murdering a man. Death penalty opponents think it is a case of an innocent person put to death by the state.
It's what Hitchcock movies or Twilight Zone episodes are made of. Some guy gets picked up off the street, proclaimed by the state to have committed a heinous crime. No one believes him when he denies it. He moves toward death as each legal door closes. It keeps readers and audiences on the edge of their seats.
But what about the reality? The Washington Post spoke to one man who served 20 years in prison before being exonerated. The Post wrote, "He spoke of eventually giving up hope that someone would recognize the error and set him free." Over and over again, he said to himself when he was convicted, "I am innocent. I am not a rapist."
Nearly two-thirds of Americans support the death penalty, according to opinion polls. But a growing number of people believe innocent prisoners have been executed. That's scary. I have to say it makes a much better horror movie than a real life story.
