blackhawk
01-20-2008, 03:44 PM
JASPER, Texas -- Shawn Allen Berry, the last of three white men to stand trial for the dragging death of a black man, escaped the death penalty late Thursday when he was sentenced to life in prison. Under Texas law he must spend 40 years behind bars before he can be considered for parole.
Nine friends and family members had taken the stand to beg for Berry's life shortly after a jury convicted him of capital murder for the death of James Byrd Jr.
The slaying was one of the grisliest racial crimes since the civil rights era in the United States. Berry, 24, had insisted he was too afraid of his two racist buddies to help Byrd.
"I am very sorry from what happened to Mr. Byrd, and I've said that from day one. I wanted to speak to the Byrd family personally but I couldn't," Berry testified during the sentencing hearing.
Defense witnesses in the penalty phase testified that Berry - - who unlike his fellow defendants did not have a history of racist activities -- did not meet the death-penalty test of being a future threat to society.
"He's not a danger to nobody, never has been, never will be. I'm begging (for a life sentence). There's nothing else I can do," said long-time Berry friend Candy Lowe.
Prosecutors called no witnesses in the penalty phase but introduced evidence regarding Berry's prior convictions for burglary and drunken driving.
Prosecutor Pat Hardy urged jurors to impose the death penalty, saying Berry "chose to pick up Mr. Byrd ... chose to beat him down, kick him ... and chain him like an animal to the back of the pickup truck."
Prosecutors pleased with conviction
Texas state troopers on horseback ringed the courthouse after the verdict, but there were few people on the streets of Jasper, a town of 8,000 people 100 miles northeast of Houston.
wtf no death penalty in texas!
Nine friends and family members had taken the stand to beg for Berry's life shortly after a jury convicted him of capital murder for the death of James Byrd Jr.
The slaying was one of the grisliest racial crimes since the civil rights era in the United States. Berry, 24, had insisted he was too afraid of his two racist buddies to help Byrd.
"I am very sorry from what happened to Mr. Byrd, and I've said that from day one. I wanted to speak to the Byrd family personally but I couldn't," Berry testified during the sentencing hearing.
Defense witnesses in the penalty phase testified that Berry - - who unlike his fellow defendants did not have a history of racist activities -- did not meet the death-penalty test of being a future threat to society.
"He's not a danger to nobody, never has been, never will be. I'm begging (for a life sentence). There's nothing else I can do," said long-time Berry friend Candy Lowe.
Prosecutors called no witnesses in the penalty phase but introduced evidence regarding Berry's prior convictions for burglary and drunken driving.
Prosecutor Pat Hardy urged jurors to impose the death penalty, saying Berry "chose to pick up Mr. Byrd ... chose to beat him down, kick him ... and chain him like an animal to the back of the pickup truck."
Prosecutors pleased with conviction
Texas state troopers on horseback ringed the courthouse after the verdict, but there were few people on the streets of Jasper, a town of 8,000 people 100 miles northeast of Houston.
wtf no death penalty in texas!