Balentine, John Lezell

Sentenced to death for shooting three young males in the head while they slept. He had been in a dispute with one of them over him dating the victim's sister. He had a long record and confessed to the murders.

During the penalty phase of the trial, the foreman espoused racist views and refused to pass along notes to the judge from other jurors. Other jurors on the case say at least four of them did not want the death penalty but were swayed by aggressive bullying from the foreman.

The US Supreme Court did not take up the case.

If you're going to murder 3 people in cold blood, and you have a proven history of violence & criminal activity, you should probably expect to receive the death penalty.

ETA his execution was put on hold unless something changed.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/abc7amarillo.com/amp/news/local/execution-of-amarillo-man-who-killed-three-teenagers-in-their-sleep-put-on-hold-john-balentine-edward-mark-caylor-kai-brooke-geyer-steven-brady-watson-misty-caylor-death-row-lethal-injection-pentobarbital-expiration-date-lawsuit-robert-fratta-wesley-ruiz

Sounds like the foreman was a Grade C scum bag.

The murderer is still a Grade A scum bag that confessed to this heinous crime. There's no place for him in civil society and his life is of no value. Be done with him.

"Adios Mofo!"

I'm anti death penalty.

I'm also glad this maggot is being exterminated.

Not a Bot said:

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During the penalty phase of the trial, the foreman refused to pass along notes to the judge from other jurors. Other jurors on the case say at least four of them did not want the death penalty but were swayed by aggressive bullying from the foreman.

The US Supreme Court did not take up the case.

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fc2112 said:

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I'm anti death penalty.

I'm also glad this maggot is being exterminated.

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Same here. But if we're going to have it, this was a deserving candidate.

Ballantine's day is coming.

didnt he refuse a plea deal and prefer death penalty

i surely there are other courts between his original tral and the supreme courts but none over turned? so this is fair

Again, not really in favor of the Govt. being able to sentence you to death. This is why we need a prison like the one in the Ray Liotta movie, "No Escape". There is an island that is one big prison. There is no escape. The inmates must survive the elements, including themselves. It is essentially one big social experiment.

I don't see a tremendous difference between giving him the death penalty in sentencing him to life without parole. Either way, society is protected.

And yes, even though the department of criminal corrections still has the scheduled execution listed as today, a judge last week issued an order for a delay. Someone apparently forgot to tell his attorneys about the execution date in a timely manner.

https://www.myhighplains.com/news/local-news/potter-county/balentine-execution-date-recalled-by-potter-county-district-court/

Pro Sandy said:

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Even if you believe Romans 13 allows the government to execute prisoners, I don't see how we can think our government's justice system is pure enough to allow the death penalty.

Even as blatant as this case is, we see that the system has flaws, notably a bias foreman.

Life without parole protects society and allows for a broken system to correct itself during their natural life.

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Is our system pure enough to sentence someone to life without parole? How about 30 years in prison? Where do you draw the line of pure enough?

life without parole protects society?

tell that to the Centerville family

https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/death_row/dr_info/balentinejohn.html

Convicted in Arkansas for Burglary; Conditionally released 3/82; Jackson County, Arkansas Cardinal Abuse Kidnapping and Aggravated Assault with a Knife; Arkansas Department of Corrections #883268 on a 5 year sentence for Burglary; released on Parole 4/89; returned as a Parole Violator with a new conviction 5 year sentence for Assessor to Robbery (cousin and one co-defendant robbed 14-year old white male by hitting him on the head with a bottle) #88326B; released on Parole 3/93 and discharged 4/93.

Pro Sandy said:

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Even if you believe Romans 13 allows the government to execute prisoners, I don't see how we can think our government's justice system is pure enough to allow the death penalty.

Even as blatant as this case is, we see that the system has flaws, notably a bias foreman.

Life without parole protects society and allows for a broken system to correct itself during their natural life.

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Maybe start in the Torah.

We have been instructed to carry out judgements and we are not.

Pro Sandy said:

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Even if you believe Romans 13 allows the government to execute prisoners, I don't see how we can think our government's justice system is pure enough to allow the death penalty.

Even as blatant as this case is, we see that the system has flaws, notably a bias foreman.

Life without parole protects society and allows for a broken system to correct itself during their natural life.

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I am certain the Roman Empire did not have a "just" legal system but Paul here points out the reality of needing some stabilizing government/legal system. No human system will ever be "just"until the Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth and establishes His system of government.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/05/texas-john-balentine-death-penalty-case-execution

Racial conflict was present at the start of the grim sequence of events that has now brought Balentine, 54, to the edge of the death chamber. The trigger was his relationship with Misty Caylor, a white woman, which incurred the racist wrath of her brother Mark.

The 17-year-old had a violent past. He had recently been released from a juvenile boot camp after firing bullets at a house. Incensed by his sister's association with a Black man, he acquired another firearm and told several acquaintances that he planned to use it.

Detectives found a note at the crime scene in which Caylor had written: "I am gowing [sic] to kill the neger". He added the number 187 hip-hop slang for "murder" based on section 187 of the California penal code.

Another brother, Chris Caylor, testified that shortly before the shootings he pinned a piece of paper referencing the Ku Klux Klan to Balentine's front door.

The trial prosecutor removed from the pool of potential jurors the only two African Americans available creating an exclusively white jury. When it was put to the prosecutor that the strikes were discriminatory and thus unlawful under the US constitution he countered that he had based his decision on an innocent question.

He asked prospective jurors: did they have any doubts that OJ Simpson had been guilty of the 1994 murders of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend (Simpson was acquitted, though later found responsible in a civil trial)?

Both Black individuals said that, yes, they did have doubts about Simpson's guilt, and were thus removed from the jury pool. Yet the prosecutor did not explain why he chose not to strike other potential jurors who were white and who expressed exactly the same reservations.

Maybe the members of the jury should have been stronger. Stop blaming it on bullying. You can stand up for yourself instead of rolling over. When the jury was polled, they could have spoken up. I suspect they had second thoughts after the fact and are now afraid to admit they voted for death.

From the article I posted: According to the testimony of fellow jurors, England succeeded in cajoling at least four of the 12 to change their vote from a life sentence to the death penalty. The petition bluntly states that "the jury foreman was a racist, who believed that it was up to him to make sure that Mr Balentine would be killed, and, to that end, bullied jurors who thought a life sentence was appropriate into changing their minds".

England described in his own words the extreme methods he used to browbeat fellow jurors into changing their vote. He recalled how when the 12 women and men first entered the jury room and began their deliberations on the sentence, four of them opposed the death penalty.

England also recalled how he dealt with one of the female jurors who was so disturbed by the possibility of Balentine being executed that she wrote a note saying that she did not want to impose the death penalty. When England discovered the note, he did not arrange for it to be passed to the judge as forepersons are supposed to do.

"I ripped it up and it didn't leave the room," he said.

England was himself aware of the impact his demeanor had on other jurors. After the sentence was handed down, prosecutors came to talk to the 12 and asked them whether they felt they had been able to project their opinions inside the jury room.

"He wouldn't let us!" a female juror exclaimed, pointing to the foreperson. England recounted that story in his own deposition, adding the wry remark: "I'm pretty tough in that way."

GEEZ...1998???

Crazy how long it takes to execute murderous monsters...EVEN WHEN THEY CONFESS. Not to mention how pricey it is.

IndividualFreedom said:

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Again, not really in favor of the Govt. being able to sentence you to death. This is why we need a prison like the one in the Ray Liotta movie, "No Escape". There is an island that is one big prison. There is no escape. The inmates must survive the elements, including themselves. It is essentially one big social experiment.

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Trying to understand being against the death penalty but instead sending someone to a remote island to reenact Lord of the Flies with other prisoners as being... less cruel and unusual?

Death penalty is a big deterrent when administered swiftly and decisively. We need more of it.

Pinochet said:

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Maybe the members of the jury should have been stronger. Stop blaming it on bullying. You can stand up for yourself instead of rolling over. When the jury was polled, they could have spoken up. I suspect they had second thoughts after the fact and are now afraid to admit they voted for death.

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Dead on. I served on a capital jury, and sounds to me like the Forman did his job:

Not a Bot said:

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Other jurors on the case say at least four of them did not want the death penalty but were swayed by aggressive bullying from the foreman.

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Jury rooms can get heated with everyone lobbying for their positions. "Aggressive bullying" sounds like a juror trying not to lose their 'woke' card for a verdict and sentence they made freely.

Ripping up a juror's note that he was supposed to give to the judge wasn't doing his job: England also recalled how he dealt with one of the female jurors who was so disturbed by the possibility of Balentine being executed that she wrote a note saying that she did not want to impose the death penalty. When England discovered the note, he did not arrange for it to be passed to the judge as forepersons are supposed to do.

"I ripped it up and it didn't leave the room," he said.

He also admitted that he didn't allow the jurors to share their own opinions: England was himself aware of the impact his demeanor had on other jurors. After the sentence was handed down, prosecutors came to talk to the 12 and asked them whether they felt they had been able to project their opinions inside the jury room.

"He wouldn't let us!" a female juror exclaimed, pointing to the foreperson. England recounted that story in his own deposition, adding the wry remark: "I'm pretty tough in that way."

Jurors swear an oath to uphold the law, which specifically includes the death penalty. If they are against it they should not be on the jury and are told so. Sounds like back tracking by jurors in their oath. Sounds like the Formean held them accountable to thier oath.

They're not required to impose the death penalty, but they were most likely against the death penalty after hearing the evidence in the case instead of being against it at the start.

lethalninja said:

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They're not required to impose the death penalty, but they were most likely against the death penalty after hearing the evidence in the case instead of being against it at the start.

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I know how it works, I was on a capital jury. They sound like FOS back trackers.

Did the guy murder 3 people in cold blood and was the jury presented sufficient evidence to convict him beyond a reasonable doubt. If yes, he gets the needle. I do not care on bit about what occurred in the jury room that ultimately had not bearing on whether or not this guy is guilty.

He deserves the death penalty. The juror(s) holding out against the death penalty should be charged with being a spineless cat.

Shouldn't England be charged with contempt of court (if the statute of limitations haven't passed) for ripping up the juror's note that he was required to give to the judge?

lethalninja said:

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Shouldn't England be charged with contempt of court for ripping up the juror's note that he was required to give to the judge?

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Hell no.

These people should've stood up to the guy and not gone along with it, or send a note out to the judge during deliberations and told him what was going on.

It may have caused a mistrial, but they are the ones that backed down. As far as this guy being sentenced to death? I couldn't care less. It be better if they just took him out, shot him and left him in a ditch and let the vultures get him for what he did, he'll just get to go to sleep.

I will never understand people that won't stand up for themselves or what's right.

It's truly scary to think sometimes of the people that serve on these juries.

And honestly, if I had committed crimes that were going to get me the death penalty or life in prison? I would choose the death penalty. Why do you wanna live inside a box? Never even being able to open your own door for the rest of your life, which could be decades.

After the first automatic appeal, I would say no more.

One of the jurors spoke up for herself immediately after the sentence: After the sentence was handed down, prosecutors came to talk to the 12 and asked them whether they felt they had been able to project their opinions inside the jury room.

"He wouldn't let us!" a female juror exclaimed, pointing to the foreperson.

Also, one of the jurors wrote a note to the judge (not about the foreperson, but about her doubts on sentencing the defendant to death), and the foreperson was required to deliver it to the judge, but he ripped it up.

lethalninja said:

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One of the jurors spoke up for herself immediately after the sentence: After the sentence was handed down, prosecutors came to talk to the 12 and asked them whether they felt they had been able to project their opinions inside the jury room.

"He wouldn't let us!" a female juror exclaimed, pointing to the foreperson.

Also, one of the jurors wrote a note to the judge (not about the foreperson, but about her doubts on sentencing the defendant to death), and the foreperson was required to deliver it to the judge, but he ripped it up.

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Too bad, they were weak jurors. They should be held in contempt of anything.

Curious, do you want this guy to go free?

One person doesn't get to decide what's sent to the judge, the jury agrees as a group what is sent. My guess other jurors didn't agree with that person. If they felt so strongly, hold out and hung jury, problem solved. What weaklings.