Mental Footnote
By Mitch Berg
I’ve said it quite a few times; I support capital punishment for every reason but one – the inevitability that the state will execute the wrong person. And given that that is one of the ultimate wrongs – an innocent person dies, the guilty party goes forever free – that’s all the reason I need to oppose capital punishment.
And it’s not just an intellectual parlor game; we’re fairly certain one innocent guy was executed; there are suspicions about many other such cases. And the fact that well over 100 people have been freed from death row because their convictions were overturned, in most cases because they could not have committed the crimes for which they were convicted and sentenced to death, usually after sitting on death row for many years, as some conservatives demand the curtailing of appeals, which would have led to several more executions of the innocent?
Color me unconvinced. Or, rather, utterly convinced.
So, with all that said: a “botched” firing squad execution in South Carolina left a convicted murderer not quite dead, for a while anyway:
There wasn’t much chance Mahdi didn’t commit his crime. Or, rather, crimes; he was convicted of three murders – the stabbing of Greg Jones in a drug deal gone bad, then shooting a convenience store clerk Christopher Jason Boggs in the face and finally shooting police officer James Myers 9 times. 3 to his head.
Any of which, but especially that last, might explain why three expert riflemen firing at fifteen feet missed a three inch target – a grouping I get with a handgun without a whole lot of ceremony at that range – leaving Mahdi in “excruciating pain” for about a minute.
I imagine there’s going to be an Eighth Amendment civil rights suit against the marksmen – if anyone has standing to take it to court.
May 12th, 2025 at 6:45 am
There is a way to have 99.99% certainty an innocent soul does not get executed for a crime he/she did not commit. I am 99.99% certain most overturned convictions were due to prosecutorial misconduct. When you start throwing prosecutors in jail, you will stop 99.99% of people ending up in jail for crimes they did not commit. But hey, we are nation divided into people who follow the law, and those above it. Blackwell is a case in point; as well as all libturd justices.
May 12th, 2025 at 7:14 am
So let me see…
We have a video tape of a child’s murder, forensic evidence tying the suspect to the crime and a confession.
1) Is that enough to support capital punishment?
2) It all gets thrown out of court because of “procedure”. Is that enough to declare innocence and support a lawsuit when the suspect is denied a job in a daycare?
The question is not whether to execute, rather it is the standard of evidence. Yeah, let’s end the bullsh*t of jail-house snitches – but these days, we live in the age of cameras everywhere.
As for Netflix, keep in mind, it is entertainment. The producer’s job was to make you feel outraged at the injustice of it all.
And PS, a cold stone murderer “suffered” for a minute, who gives a shit?
May 12th, 2025 at 7:17 am
Is it better to die after serving life in prison for a crime you didn’t commit, than to die being executed for a crime you didn’t commit?
Seems to me the problem is not the punishment, but the conviction. JPA might be onto something.
May 12th, 2025 at 7:20 am
Great idea, jpa. And an even better PS, Greg.
May 12th, 2025 at 11:59 am
What JPA says. You can no more give a man time back than you can give him his life back, so misconduct ought to be addressed severely. Add to that real punishments for failure to do adequate investigations
May 12th, 2025 at 12:17 pm
My heart grieves for Mr. Mahdi’s suffering.
May 12th, 2025 at 1:15 pm
There is no excuse for this. South Carolina has no shortage of expert rifle shooters. Hell, I know one personally, although he wouldn’t shoot a guy just because the state said to.
May 12th, 2025 at 1:33 pm
3 testicle-shots would have been too blatant. Have to have some deniability.
May 12th, 2025 at 2:40 pm
A handgun is zeroed at 20 feet or so. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a rifle that was zeroed for less than 100 yards. I’d be very curious if anyone checked the zero for those rifles.
That 3″ number is curiously telling. A .308 zeroed at 200 yards (the most common value) will shoot almost exactly 3″ low with the zero site line, depending on ammo brand.
I don’t know the details, but I’m not going to blame anyone taking the shot for “excruciating pain” without more information. Did they do test firing at those short ranges? Who chose the rifles, ammo, etc?
May 12th, 2025 at 4:30 pm
I challenge the “excruciating pain” narrative.
Who says?
I killed a number of critters in my day, no human though – but not for lack of motivation. Having said that, even a possum with a bullet to the brain thrashes around for a minute or two.
Count me skeptical how much pain they were in, considering that it take a brain without a hole in it to process pain.
Shock maybe, but pain no.
On the same note, maybe someone here can correct me, but there is a difference between “kill power” and “stop power”. I think the US army discovered that in the Philippines during the Moro Rebellion and I believe that is what gave rise to the .45 to replace the .38.
Personally, if I had one of those infamous Canadian “super pigs” charging at me, I would want something substantial with a large bore and a lot of stop power.
Who cares if the beast dies, I am more concerned with how soon.
May 12th, 2025 at 4:51 pm
The article I saw suggests one bullet missed the chest entirely. I would look at the shooters as much as the guns. Not sure whether I’d be able to make that shot. It’s not just bullet drop and the distance from bore to scope.
But that noted, YES, examine the guns. If you want death to come quickly, I bet there are guns and cartridges that make that more likely
May 13th, 2025 at 7:22 am
gosh lets leave the 19th century
5 308s(each loaded with Hydra-Shok ammo) & cameras mounted on motorized gimbals
controled/aimed by a Raspberry PI
with 3 “trigger buttons” (only one, at random, is active) to be pressed by the executioners
liklihood of error >0.0001%
May 13th, 2025 at 7:26 am
I loved The Green Mile. I remember the prison guards rehearsing the execution to make sure it went correctly and professionally. But that’s Hollywood. These comments make me wonder – do real prison guards rehearse their executions? Surely they don’t grab some random guys off the block and toss them rifles?
I’d love to see an insider’s view, a documentary that shows the Armorer selecting and preparing the weapons, Firing Squad try-outs, a live-fire walk-through (using a full-size paper target or possibly a department store mannequin) with chalk-talk afterwards. Anybody know where to find one? Anybody know somebody who could make one?
May 13th, 2025 at 7:58 am
It goes without saying that over zealous prosecutors are responsible for making sure their cases are solid, but many violate procedures, Ala Any Klobitcher and Kamel toe Harris. Let’s not forget the roles of a lot of LEOs in these wrongful convictions cases. In far too many cases, history tells us that there have been violations of procedures, mishandling of evidence and sloppy investigative work.
May 13th, 2025 at 8:42 am
Notwithstanding all of the prosecutorial and procedural abuses, evil does walk among us.
Some people simply need killing. When it becomes obvious, society should exercise the process to do so.
Failing to right the other cited wrongs (errors in evidence, procedure, etc) simply demonstrates political weakness and a willingness to hide or deflect from the basic evil at question.
And yes …. seriously….sight those rifles correctly for the job they are intended to perform. A deer rifle at less than 10 yards can miss 3 inches low and there is no way a clean miss like that doesn’t leave an impression. Be professional. It’s why we pay you.
May 13th, 2025 at 8:50 am
I’ve gotta say Mitch, of all of the reasons I’ve heard over the years to oppose the Death Penalty, yours in the one I’ve always respected the most. I still disagree, but maybe my knuckles drag a bit more than yours do. 😉
I’ve heard that in recent years States that still actually use the Death Penalty (a smaller number than the ones that have it on the books), have needed to make several changes to their procedure. Commonly used Lethal Injection drugs were becoming harder to procure since the manufacturers were refusing to sell them to those States. Alternative drug combinations were being excluded as “inhumane” for executions, even if the same sedatives could be used commercially for medical procedures.
Does anyone know why a firing squad was selected? Was it Inmate’s Choice, or the fallback because the lethal injection wasn’t available?
As someone previously stated, I too would like to see an actual current documentary about the process. I’ve previously heard a lot of different things, but I don’t remember if they were official information or somewhere between hearsay and urban legend.
I’ve heard that executions regularly have multiple people assigned to “flip the switch,” but only one of said switches starts the procedure. I’ve also heard that in the past, some firing squads used a mix of blanks and real bullets. Both scenarios were said to be prepared in advance by someone that never said which switch was hooked up or which rifles would kill. The consistent theme of all of this was to allow the executioners the ability to believe it was “the other guy” that actually killed the prisoner as a coping mechanism for the guilt. I find both claims to be completely plausible, but I have no idea how true they actually are.
Personally, I’d think that a single shot to the back of the head with a bullet that has enough power to enter and bounce around but not exit would be as humane a situation as possible. I suppose that is too personal though compared to a line of guards or an unknown individual in another room turning dials and flipping levers.
I’d also like to add my support to stricter penalties for prosecutorial misconduct. Currently, it’s rarely successfully prosecuted, or even charged.
May 13th, 2025 at 9:29 am
Sure, but when prosecutors and police violate procedure, punish them, not the public.
Plain and simple, courts are guided by process, not truth. A court that seeks truth does not hide facts. Example: the exclusionary rule. So if a house number is off by a digit on a search warrant all of the evidence from that search is hidden from the jury.
Who does that serve?
Other than defense lawyers and their clients?
May 13th, 2025 at 9:30 am
And yes, SSC also has it right.
One round behind the ear with a 22 has worked for years. I have read that the 22 is the most common murder caliber (perhaps not now with with the switches spraying Mpls) so clearly it works.
Finding a sociopath willing to do it is a different question although our predilection for weakness caused a stir about putting down dogs, much less rabid and evil people.
Wait….the solution really is……. violence?
May 13th, 2025 at 10:20 am
Smith.
I remember from my military days, albeit that was in the early 70s, a firing squad was usually five guys. Only 2 had live rounds.
Not sure whether or not any of you saw or heard that the Colorado (read transplanted Californicators) DemoCommie controlled legislature, passed a law to let child rapists walk, even after multiple offenses. Those people that voted for this, are good candidates to face a firing squad. Those shooters guns should all have live rounds loaded.
May 13th, 2025 at 3:04 pm
The sad part, Boss, is we came from there and are probably headed back there in the not-too-distant future.
Modern police as we know them – public employees working for an impartia justice system – are a recent invention, dating back maybe 200 years. Before that, the public relied on volunteers (vigilantes or the posse) or mercenaries paid by some rich person (the names Montague or Capulet ring a bell?).
Everyone agreeing to give up the right of private law enforcement in favor of government law enforcement is what’s known as the Social Compact. If modern law enforcement fails to deliver as promised, the social compact breaks down and we go back to everyone taking the law into their own hands. It’s already happened a few times – think of Boy Ellison roaming Minneapolis with a pistol and a fire extinguisher during the Saint George Riots, for one.
Not looking forward to it.
May 13th, 2025 at 4:02 pm
I’ve also heard that in the past, some firing squads used a mix of blanks and real bullets.
I’ve never fired a blank, not even a track starter pistol. Can you tell a difference in kickback since there is no mass of a bullet being propelled?
May 13th, 2025 at 4:02 pm
If there is a difference, you’d think someone experienced would know the difference.
May 22nd, 2025 at 3:04 pm
Regarding blanks vs. live rounds, I would guess you would feel the difference in momentum between a super-light wadding and a fairly heavy bullet leaving the weapon. You’ll feel it less with a high velocity light caliber like 5.56mm, but it’ll still be there.
My overall thought is that the guns ought to be ones that are good at 5-50 yards range, and optimally do not give the shooters a close up view of impact and results. So probably iron sights instead of a scope, sighted in at the target distance, and expanding rounds to make it maximally lethal quickly.
On the light side, I remember a sketch from the BBC–I believe “Dave Allen”–where the person to be executed is asked if he has any last requests, and when he requests that the lead executioner sing something, the guns go from the person to be executed to the lead executioner because he sings so badly….