Premeditation

I came across an article today while reading my morning sports stories and events that I thought warranted some alternate thought. During last year’s NFL season (professional football league), a player was killed in his home during a robbery attempt. He was a young superstar of the league even though he experienced frequent run-ins with the rules committee and also law enforcement. You could say he was a little bit of a “problem” during his days on and off the field of play. However, in the recent time period before his death, he was making significant improvements in his life and moving past his problem experiences. He was a growing young man with a family. His growth began with the birth of his daughter who was 18 months old when he died. Some people need an event such as having a child to refocus their life to what really matters most. He was well on his way according to all who knew him.

It is a sad and heart breaking story. What I have a problem with is the word for this article’s title, premeditation. Here is the breakdown of the event that ended in the untimely death of Sean Taylor. A group of young men were intent on robbing the player and they were under the impression that he would not be home when they were going to enact their plan. They expected nobody to be home. However, an injury kept Taylor from playing and he was spending his time off at his home, with his girlfriend, and daughter. So what happened? The group of 4 reached his house and proceeded to break in. While breaking in, they made noise and Taylor and his girlfriend were startled. Taylor proceeded to try and protect his family. The burglars were startled to find out someone was home and one of the younger criminals fired his weapon after breaking through the door Taylor was behind. He fired 2 shots, one missed, the other hit Taylor in the leg, damaging his femoral artery.

Taylor was airlifted to the hospital alive, but in a very fragile state. He experienced significant blood loss and potential brain damage. He passed away the next day. The police captured the 4 burglars and were able to get confessions from the individuals. Now that we have the situation down and the criminals caught along with confessions, where does this story go? Today, the story I ran across reports that the individuals will not be facing a penalty with possibility of death. Why? Did they not murder someone while in the process of a criminal act? Did they not plan on breaking and entering another person’s home? Did they not know they were doing something wrong? As you can probably guess, I’m a supporter of Capital Punishment. It’s not about revenge, it’s not about an “eye for an eye,” and it’s not about giving people “what’s good for them.” What it is about is a punishment necessary to deter other people from committing the crime of murder. Yes, we can get into a philosophical debate of this issue and I may write an article just on it, but we’ll leave that for another time.

Let’s get back to premeditation. The prosecutors are not going to seek the death penalty in this case because they do not believe they have the issue of premeditation satisfied. They have confessions of the people involved stating that they were going to rob an empty house. They thought nobody would be home. The death was an accident. They didn’t mean to kill anyone. They didn’t PLAN on killing Taylor. Well, that sounds all well and true according to released information, but I tend to disagree. What I disagree with is that once you have entered a criminal act, you have entered the realm of no accidental occurrences. What you do after this particular DECISION doesn’t warrant a new thought process. If you are willing to break into someone’s house, you should not have levels of crime for what happens after the fact. You premeditated a felony, you engaged in this act, and then you murdered someone in the process. You PREMEDITATED to commit this felony. While you were in the process of this felony, you heard a sound. At that instant, you DECIDED to aim your weapon. You DECIDED to break through the door. You DECIDED to fire, not once, but twice at an individual inside the house. DECISIONS! Deciding on actions is the simplest form of premeditation.

What exactly determines premeditation anyway? Do you have to plan something for a few days, months, years? Do you have to plan something for a few minutes, hours, or seconds? Who determines this, lawyers? I sure hope not. Premeditation can be in an instant. The criminals in this case heard someone in the house and broke through a door and then fired a weapon two times at someone. There are MANY steps in this process where they have DECIDED to pursue killing someone. The lawyers in this case have taken the easy way out and are happy with a life conviction since the criminals “didn’t intend to shoot anyone.” They should have a quick and easy conviction considering they have confessions. It’s a slam dunk case for the prosecuting attorney and local law enforcement. Sure, I know they have to pick and choose their battles and focus on cases they have enough evidence to pursue. But, where do we draw the line here? Are we content with putting the message out to future criminals that if you break into a house, but don’t “plan” on killing anyone and confess as so, but kill the people inside, you don’t face the risk of death as punishment. Some people say life in prison is worse than death. Nope. Not a chance. Death is absolute. Final. Gone. No chance at redemption, nothing. Finality.

Living the rest of your life behind bars is just that, living. You are paying a price, but what price have the innocent paid? These criminals took the life of a young person with a family. They will never have him back. His daughter will never know her father. How can that crime be quantified? I believe the criminals in this case have utilized the situation to help their cause. They have confessed for the “payment” of not having to face the death penalty. The prosecutors are looking for a win in a high profile case with an “acceptable” penalty imposed. The family is looking for closure, the community is looking for justice, and the lawyers are looking for a case win to add to their resume. It’s so easy to pursue the solution without obstacles. But, where does this leave us?

If we send out the message that taking someone’s life and the penalty of death can be mitigated away with lawyer speak, it’s the wrong one. Potential criminals must have consequences they are afraid of to deter them. Criminals are not usually the most rational people, sorry to say, so the consequences have to be severe to make an impact. You and I do not partake in criminal acts for a variety of reasons, and rational behavior is one of them. Take rational behavior out of the equation and potential punishment doesn’t play as much of a part in decision making. However, if the punishment is severe, even the most irrational individual will have to weigh the cost/benefits of the proposed action. “Most” insane people even pay attention to death.

So, here we are, near the end of the proceedings for Taylor’s untimely death and the criminals are going to pay a price (assuming they are convicted which should happen by all accounts) of living life behind bars. But, by taking the easy way out and dropping the pursuit of the death penalty, we are sending the wrong message to future, potential criminals. Premeditation, it’s just a word to create doubt within the legal realm. Did I premeditate this article? No, I did not wake up this morning planning on writing it. But when I opened my word processor, I had decided. Did they mean to kill someone when they entered the house? No, but when they broke through the door and fired the weapon, they had decided. They decided and took someone’s life.

Citation: http://www.espn.com/ Various articles within.