Bloodthirsty D.C. jury sends California man to the chair
After four days of deliberation, a Washington D.C. jury chose to send a 57-year-old California man to the chair. The controversial decision came just after midnight on Saturday, January 7th following a historic 15 rounds of voting.
The group made the recommendation to Honorable Judge Ulysses S. Constitution, who handed down the sentence immediately.
When the hysteria settled, Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield accepted his fate and walked to the front of the room to face the consequences. He stood before the 400-plus member jury, held up his right hand and acknowledged the charges on which he was convicted. He was then handed a wooden gavel to bite down on for when the power current ran through his body.
The decision generated substantial criticism. Criminal justice activist Bridgette Manley said the system is in need of comprehensive reform.
“That it took 15 rounds of voting to make a decision indicates the jury was not confident in its verdict,” she said. “Not to mention, we only require a bare majority – not unanimous agreement – to sentence a person to such an awful, grisly punishment. This poor man’s life just ended right before our eyes, and for what crimes? Being smarmy and unprincipled? That describes 90 percent of the people in this town.”
One of the lead jurors defended the verdict. “McCarthy asked for this, he has been practically begging for it for years,” said Jim Jordan. “So, we, a jury of his peers, gave him exactly the verdict that he wanted.”
Jordan was correct. During the proceedings, McCarthy could be heard maniacally screaming, “Put me in that chair! Put me in that chair right now! I want to be in that chair!”
His outbursts have sparked debate over why McCarthy’s attorneys did not intervene and submit an insanity defense. Anyone who begs to be put in that chair obviously is not well and likely needs professional mental health treatment, many argued.
Manley, the activist, also lamented the overwhelming size of the jury, as well as the fact that the members were torn between convicting McCarthy or another man, Hakeem Jeffries of New York. “They weren’t even sure which person to convict,” she said. “And yet we’re sending one to the chair to make the ultimate sacrifice.”
There was an almost biblical aura around the solemn proceedings. Religious scholars quickly drew parallels to the Gospel of John, in which the Jews were given a choice between freeing Jesus the Nazarene or the outlaw, Barabbas. When Pontius Pilate asks the crowd whether to free Jesus, they reply, “Not this one, but Barabbas.”
“In D.C. last week, I could hear the mob crying, ‘Not this one, but Jeffries,’” said Reverend Peter Baptiste of Ammendale, Maryland. “Now, I am not comparing Kevin McCarthy to the Son of God. But you can’t blame me for making the connection. I’m a biblical scholar for heaven’s sake. It’s pretty much all I think about.”
Like Barabbas, Jeffries’ life was spared. Meanwhile, a candlelight vigil in remembrance of McCarthy is scheduled for tonight on the US Capitol steps.