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Someone else deserves the attention Tookie is getting With the recent turmoil over the execution of Tookie Williams, I’d like to bring another case to the attention of those who fought for clemency, one where the defendant is much more deserving of the national attention that found its way to Williams. In Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi a black man by the name of Cory Maye sits on death row after being convicted of the murder of a white cop who happened to be the son of the chief of police. Cory Maye was living, with his 18-month-old daughter, in the back half of a duplex, the front of which was occupied by a drug dealer. The police executed a no-knock midnight raid on the dealer, during which they also broke down the door to Maye’s residence. Confronted with an unknown intruder in his home at night, he shot and killed the cop who broke down his door before surrendering when he realized it was the police. Mr. Maye was not a suspect of any crime, not named on the search warrant, had no criminal record, and had done nothing wrong. This didn’t stop a jury from convicting him of murder and recommending execution in a sentencing session so short (less than a day) it’s unprecedented. Decide for yourself: who deserves more attention and assistance, a four-time convicted murderer who bragged about the killings but who now professes to have straightened up his act, or a man with no criminal record defending his daughter’s life in his own home? |