A Texas man who faces execution after jurors at his trial consulted the Bible when deliberating his fate should have his death sentence commuted, Amnesty International said on Friday.
Khristian Oliver, 32, is set to be killed on 5 November after jurors used Biblical passages supporting the death penalty to help them decide whether he should live or die.
Amnesty International is calling on the Texas authorities to commute Khristian Oliver's death sentence. The organization considers that the jurors' use of the Bible during their sentencing deliberations raises serious questions about their impartiality.
A US federal appeals court acknowledged last year that the jurors' use of the Bible amounted to an "external influence" prohibited under the US Constitution, but nonetheless upheld the death sentence.
Khristian Oliver was sentenced to death in 1999 for a murder committed during a burglary. According to accomplice testimony at the trial, 20-year-old Oliver shot the victim before striking him on the head with a rifle butt.
After the trial, evidence emerged that jurors had consulted the Bible during their sentencing deliberations. At a hearing in June 1999, four of the jurors recalled that several Bibles had been present and highlighted passages had been passed around.
One juror had read aloud from the Bible to a group of fellow jurors, including the passage, "And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death".
The judge ruled that the jury had not acted improperly and this was upheld by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
In 2002, a Danish journalist interviewed a fifth juror. The latter said that "about 80 per cent" of the jurors had "brought scripture into the deliberation", and that the jurors had consulted the Bible "long before we ever reached a verdict".
He told the journalist he believed "the Bible is truth from page 1 to the last page", and that if civil law and biblical law were in conflict, the latter should prevail. He said that if he had been told he could not consult the Bible, "I would have left the courtroom". He described himself as a death penalty supporter, saying life imprisonment was a "burden" on the taxpayer.
In 2008, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that the jurors had "crossed an important line" by consulting specific passages in the Bible that described the very facts at issue in the case. This amounted to an "external influence" on the jury prohibited under the US Constitution.
However, it concluded that under the "highly deferential standard" by which federal courts should review state court decisions, Oliver had failed to prove that he had been prejudiced by this unconstitutional juror conduct. In April 2009, the US Supreme Court refused to take the case, despite being urged to take it by nearly 50 former US federal and state prosecutors.
If jurors use the Bible to help judge the following cases, they would be breaking the law:
- Slavery (Buying child slaves (Leviticus 25:44-46)
- Abuse of women (Death to the Rape Victim (Deuteronomy 22:23-24)
- Kill Followers of Other Religions ((Deuteronomy 13:7-12)
- Death to non-virgin women who marry ((Deuteronomy 22:20-21)
Religion and justice do not mix. Other than the golden rule, the bible has little use in making decisions about right and wrong.
Only by understanding the logical extremes of an argument can one claim to have reasoned perspective.
The jurors have the right to make decisions in accordance with their faith. They have done no wrong.
It is wise to direct your anger toward problems -- not people; to focus your energies on answers -- not excuses. Willian Arthur Ward
Consulting a Bronze age Religious book written by semi-literate tribesmen is a travesty of justice. That's the problem with Religious people they believe (falsely) that they have exclusive access to a God through their sacred book. These people on the jury should be prosecuted for Juror misconduct at the very least. I personally would pull the switch on each and everyone of them for the crime of be self deluded and emotionally retarded. Keep your Ridiculous religions out of my government.
Chuck
Let me start by saying that as a gay liberal I actually support the death penalty in some cases (my comrades won't like me for saying this!). However, bringing a religious text into a United States courtroom to influence a jury is way, way out of line. Next thing, you'll see the likes of Pat Robertson and David Jeremiah touting the Bible as a defense for their homophobic, woman -hating agendas and everything else that fundamentalists do. American democracy and the separation of church and state would be severely threatened. e decision by this stupid judge needs to be overturned. The Bible belongs in church and the U.S. Constitution belongs in court. If this happened in a Canadian court the media up here would have a field day with the judge. Finally, who the hell picked the jurors? I though jurors are supposed to be neutral and impartial.
There is only one Bible, and that is the Torah, Ketuvim and Neviim. In the proper language, Hebrew, it is the Tanakh. There is no new Tanakh.
Now, as to execution according to the Tanakh. It was really difficult. You have to read not only the text, but the commentary, because everything is open to interpretation. The jist of the Tanakh is that a capital offense required the testimony of two witnesses. When there were two witnesses, the witnesses carried out the death penalty , in front of others. The purpose of viewing the execution was simple. If the witnesses were later found to have falsely accused the criminal they were liable for the murder that they committed.
That is what is wrong with your religion ..you give no credance to the fact that other people can believe a different way.to say that the Torah is the only bible is a hypocritical attitude..i think you have the right to believe that but i have the right to believe in the Holy Bible. I am saying nothing against you Torah if that is how you believe but. it is not the only Bible.it is not even called Bible. i believe in Christianity but that is my belief but i would never say anyone elses religion is wrong..
I did not say that the Torah is only Bible. I said that the Bible includes the Ketuvim, and the Neviim. You obviously don't study much about other religions, and that shows how narrow minded you are. The Ketuvim and the Neviim are read by Christians as is the Torah. It is too bad that you chose to add something to a complete text. Tanakh will never be supplemented or supplanted by faiths that believe in idol worship, or the humanization of an all powerful G-d. Study and learn.
There is only one Bible, The torah. then you added the other about the Ketuvim and the Nevim. I dont know much about Middle Eastern religions i admit.it is not my thing and no i dont study it.dont want to.what i have seen and read about it i dont like certain things about it but that is ones own business what religions they believe in.if one believes in the middle eastern religion that is nothing to me. nor do i push my religious beliefs on others..you also said Tanakh will never be supplemented or supplanted by faits that believe in idol worship..i dont think believing my my God is idol worship. i think that people like you are fanatical and try and push your religion on others..study and learn.i dont think so.i am not interested in what i do not believe in.
That is where it started. The first adherents spoke Aramaic and/or Hebrew. Tanakh is a contraction of the same Aramaic spoken by Jesus. You, my child, are truly lost in searching.
the person should still get what he deserved, OF COURSE.
the only difference is that judging someone's fate by the Bible is quite 14th-17th century. We should judge them by our brains now that it's the 21st..