Walla Walla gang member, 19, gets life sentence
WALLA WALLA, Wash. (AP) - A 19-year-old man is headed to prison for the rest of his life for a fatal gang shooting in Walla Walla.
Benito Gomez was sentenced to 114 years Tuesday on his murder and assault convictions in a shooting last year that killed 20-year-old Julio Cesar Martinez.
The Union-Bulletin reports Gomez turned down a plea deal before the trial that would have resulted in a sentence of less than 30 years.
Benito Gomez was sentenced to 114 years Tuesday on his murder and assault convictions in a shooting last year that killed 20-year-old Julio Cesar Martinez.
The Union-Bulletin reports Gomez turned down a plea deal before the trial that would have resulted in a sentence of less than 30 years.
izwideopen 95 pts
"I understand all that mumbo jumbo about the death penalty being expensive, but I really don't care. There is no legitimate reason to keep this guy alive. The death penalty doesn't have to be expensive, they've made it that way."
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Couldn't agree more, Iz. The ACLU and bleeding heart lefties whine about the death penalty, drive up the costs of it, then complain about the costs of it.  Then, they complain about incarceration. The high costs of incarceration, disparity of sentencing, you name it.
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the Media fails to focus on the fact that there are costs involved with not incarcerating criminals, and not putting the appropriate ones to death.
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This crook will continue to cost society, and he will, no doubt, continue to victimize others in prison, both fellow prisoners, and prison staff.
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A life sentence is a clear statement that he's not safe, ever, to be in our midst. We are not trying to rehabilitate him, we are simply warehousing him. That being the case, we should execute the violators like him, and devote our money and efforts on those we deam may be salvaged, perhaps our juvenile offenders. Â
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At the least, we will make our prisons, and the rest of society, safer.
Life in an American prison is probably a vacation compared to life in Mexico, or picking vegetables for less than minimum wage outside of Fresno.
I understand all that mumbo jumbo about the death penalty being expensive, but I really don't care. There is no legitimate reason to keep this guy alive. The death penalty doesn't have to be expensive, they've made it that way.
The interesting thing is, they really don't care too much about going to prison. Â All of their buddies are in there and it's like a big reunion. Â Must be a sad life when it's an honor to go to prison for killing a rival gang member but that is the way they look at it. Â Intelligence near to none and their goals in life pretty simple. Â These are not the gangsters of the past who at least had standards, drove nice cars, went to church, dressed in suits and left woman, children and police untouchable because it caused too much heat. Â These gangsters are not low profile, they are load arrogant, stupid, cop killers, woman and children killers and a huge danger to society. Â As many off the streets as possible please.
He will be out in 25-30 yrs maybe even less
 @S4tran They will have another trial and it will be found that he was racially profiled because he isn't Caucasian and all the people involved in prosecuting him are racists.  Thats how our criminal justice system works.
"Gomez turned down a plea deal before the trial that would have resulted in a sentence of less than 30 years."
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Further proof of gang stupidity. Â I bet he never finished grade school.
 @SG1 Isn't that a good thing though? lol
Well he's already in Walla Walla so at least he doesn't have far to go.
two down...how many to go?
@toadaway there are a virtual unlimited supply of gang recruits, a few thousand miles to the south.
@northwestsurfer  you mean tacoma?
 @toadaway 11 more.
What a good gang member, he sacrificed the rest of his life to kill off another gang member!! That is two in one! Now if he would just die.
Would have been much cheaper for the taxpayers to just hang him.
 @SSPN Actually it probably wouldn't be. Consider these statistics:
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FINANCIAL FACTS ABOUT THE DEATH PENALTY
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The California death penalty system costs taxpayers $114 million per year beyond the costs of keeping convicts locked up for life. Taxpayers have paid more than $250 million for each of the stateâs executions. (L.A. Times, March 6, 2005) In
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Kansas, the costs of capital cases are 70% more expensive than comparable non-capital cases, including the costs of incarceration. (Kansas Performance Audit Report, December 2003).
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In Indiana, the total costs of the death penalty exceed the complete costs of life without parole sentences by about 38%, assuming that 20% of death sentences are overturned and reduced to life. (Indiana Criminal Law Study Commission, January 10, 2002).
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The most comprehensive study in the country found that the death penalty costs North Carolina $2.16 million per execution over the costs of sentencing murderers to life imprisonment. The majority of those costs occur at the trial level. (Duke University, May 1993).
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Enforcing the death penalty costs Florida $51 million a year above what it would cost to punish all first-degree murderers with life in prison without parole. Based on the 44 executions Florida had carried out since 1976, that amounts to a cost of $24 million for each execution. (Palm Beach Post, January 4, 2000).
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In Texas, a death penalty case costs an average of $2.3 million, about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years. (Dallas Morning News, March 8, 1992). ww.deathpenaltyinfo.org
@*FreeThinker* @SSPNÂ Â as I mention above:
Couldn't agree more, Iz. The ACLU and bleeding heart lefties whine about the death penalty, drive up the costs of it, then complain about the costs of it.  Then, they complain about incarceration. The high costs of incarceration, disparity of sentencing, you name it.
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the Media fails to focus on the fact that there are costs involved with not incarcerating criminals, and not putting the appropriate ones to death.
 @SSPN He will be eating better then homeless people.
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 @DPingurmomwithaninja It was weed that they found in his system buddy. Why are you getting all defensive? Did I strike a nerve? Explain.
Good. Maybe the only thing he is good for is as a bad example to his peers. So be it.