Our legal system guarantees Barbara Opel a vigorous defense in court. Unfortunately, 64-year-old Jerry Heimann was defenseless while being beaten and stabbed to death! I read the July 12 Herald article about the Opel case and was utterly disgusted by the comments of her defense attorneys (“Death penalty is sought for woman”). In view of the indefensible actions of their client, they have resorted to a baseless attack against those society demands prosecute her.
Opel’s defense is the suggestion that county prosecutor Jim Krider only asked for the death penalty as a political maneuver to boost his popularity during the upcoming election. Huh? Advocating capital punishment is far from politically wise and hardly politically popular. There are as many people opposed to it as there are for it. A slick politician, or a lucky one, is able to avoid the capital punishment issue altogether. You need only observe Mr. Krider’s political opponent to see that. No, I believe Mr. Krider may be unlucky and is more courageous than politically slick.
Mr. Krider is the county prosecuting attorney and he is consistently and competently discharging his duties, even in the midst of a heated political campaign. Mr. Krider has typically pursued the death sentence in capital cases. He has always been tough that way, election or not, like it or not. Were he not asking for capital punishment in this case, were he to reverse how he handles capital crimes, only then should we suspect his political motivations. Until then, we should see that he is simply doing his job, consistently and well. Sorry Opel. The “I deserve leniency because my prosecutor is running for office” argument doesn’t wash. As for Mr. Krider – stick to your guns. What you lack in political luck and slickness, you more than make up for in prosecutorial courage and integrity.
Everett
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