Members of the Catholic community welcomed the last-minute stay of execution granted on Feb. 9 to Kevin Cooper, who was convicted and sentenced to die for the 1983 murders of three members of the Ryen family and houseguest Christopher Hughes.
At a noon Mass held at St. Camillus Chapel in Los Angeles for the victims of this crime, Father Chris Ponnet, pastor, noted that executing Cooper would only create more victimization for the parties involved.
"The families must be reconciled with God," said Father Ponnet. "Execution won't do it. What if Kevin is proven innocent? Then there is more suffering for their part in it. The whole system lends itself to more and more victims."
Cooper, who was due to be executed at midnight on Feb. 10, has gained nationwide attention in his fight to save his life. He has maintained his innocence from the start and claims he was a victim of police and prosecutorial misconduct.
Cooper's defense team says that evidence in the case was destroyed and mishandled including DNA evidence that they claim may have been altered. They point to authorities' refusal to allow further testing of blond hair that was found in one of the victims' hands as proof of evidence tampering.
Cooper's attorneys also insist they have new evidence in the case, including a woman who claims she saw two men in blood-covered overalls in a bar near the scene of the crime.
But authorities are standing by the evidence chain, saying that recent DNA tests link four pieces of evidence to Cooper and the crime.
Cooper's initial request for a stay was denied without a hearing on Jan. 30 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But on Feb. 9, just hours before he was to die, an 11-member panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed there were enough questionable issues to grant a stay and review of the case.
Shortly after the decision by the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to overturn the stay, marking the first time in decades that the high court has agreed to delay an execution in California.
The appeals court ordered additional testing of the evidence found at the scene to determine the validity of Cooper's claims of innocence.
In its ruling, the Ninth Circuit said, "This case centers on Cooper's claims that he is innocent. No person should be executed if there is doubt about his or her guilt and an easily available test will determine guilt or innocence."
'Compassion for all'
Following the Holy Father's teachings on the death penalty, Father Ponnet has long worked to repeal the death penalty in California. His activism has led to frequent arrests and even death threats from those opposed to his work. He notes that people are mistaken if they think that his efforts point to a lack of compassion for the victims of crime.
"We are pastorally supposed to minister to both. It does not mean we are not compassionate to victims," he said. "In our day anyone who commits a crime can be punished by imprisonment. This is not the 19th century. There is nothing to support execution today."
Father Ponnet noted that he is not advocating the guilt or innocence of Cooper, just his right not to be "murdered by the hands of the state."
"As a taxpayer," he said, "my hands are bloodied by this murder and I don't want to be part of that." |