MovieChat Forums > I Want to Live! (1958) Discussion > Pretty women usually don't get executed

Pretty women usually don't get executed


Some say this woman was very pretty or at least attractive, I've see pictures in the past and she was attractive, and it surprises me that she got executed, most attractive women never get sentenced to death, just given a life sentence or maybe even an lighter jail sentence or get off completely. I understand she acted tough and acted like a bad-ass throughout the whole thing so that may have turned people off and they had no sympathy for her. I'm surprised she didn't do what a lot of pretty women do now who are in trouble with the law, use their looks to their advantage and look sweet, innocent, and demure, and play the victim card. I'm surprised her attorneys didn't advise her to play the "I come from the wrong tracks, I've had a bad start, I didn't have a mother, and I made some mistakes, but I would never murder" or the classic "a man made me do it." She should have threw the two men she was with under the bus. She could have used her looks to make the male jurors sympathize with her and of course she should have cried a lot, because men usually feel sorry for a woman whose crying, and she could have played the mother card to win sympathy from the female jurors by saying "she wanted to raise her kids to give them the love she never had." I look at women like Casey Anthony, Elizabeth Johnson (accussed of killing her baby) and very pretty Jodi Arias (accussed of murdering her boyfriend brutally) and a host of other pretty women who committed worser crimes and they either get off or don't serve long because their attractive. I still feel the real reason she was put to death wasn't whether she did it or not, but because someone wanted to make an example out of her or she offended the wrong people and they wanted to make her pay. I think her defense attorney's just dropped the ball, they could have gotten this woman from getting put to death if they conned and manipulated and made their client look incapable of committing such a crime and of course making her more sweet-looking like defense attorney's do today. This woman could have gotten herself off the hook, if she would have dropped the tough girl act and played the simple, dumb, sweet role, and cry a lot, or plead insanity, or say the men made her do it, anything.

I know if she was around today and committed the same crime, no way would she be put to death, because of her looks and because of the media and Internet, she would have gotten off or at least got a light sentence. Defense attorney's today are very slick, they would have used her looks to their advantage and made her con the jury by looking demure, fragile, and crying (like Casey Anthony). It's terrible how society is but if you look pretty, people generally don't think you're capable of murder and if you did commit murder, people will think someone made you do it or something is wrong psychologically and if you look ugly or unattractive, people think you are capable of murder. There would have never been a movie done on this woman if she wasn't attractive. We wouldn't be talking about to this day. We wouldn't even know her.

She shouldn't have been put to death, since there was no evidence that she actually did the killing. It may be sexist of me, but no woman should be put to death. It would have been better to make her serve 20 to 30 years, that's the worse punishment you can give an attractive woman, to make her age in prison. She had children too, another reason she shouldn't have been put to death. Personally, I don't think she was strong enough to knock a woman out and kill her. I believe one of the men she was with did the killing.

I'm pretty sure if she would have had a jury like 12 Angry Men, she would have been found innocent, thanks to Henry Fonda.
I'm pretty sure if she would have had an attorney like Jose Baez (Casey Anthony's attorney)or Johnnie Crochran (OJ Simpson attorney), she would have gotten off. I mean if those two guys got their clients off (who we know committed the murders and there was strong evidence), than those two definitely could stop a woman from being executed, especially if there's no DNA or real evidence. It's an defense attorney job to prove there's doubt, not to necessarily prove innocence, but prove there's doubt of guilt. I believe in this case there were some doubts, since there's no real evidence. She was there, but doesn't mean she actually did it. You can't convict a woman to death, just cause you think she did it. I believe this case should be reopened, and the woman supposedly killed, they should see if there's any DNA that survived or the weapon that killed the woman, they should check who handprints are on it, if it's possible! I know many years have passed. I just don't believe 100% she did and others don't either it, and because of that she shouldn't have been put to death.

I could go on all day on this case....

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You did.




Watch 'em Abe, I seen 'em do some things!

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I agree with you very much! I also believe there is too much doubts surrounding her prosecution, and that because there wasn't enough evidence, she shouldn't been executed. I agree that even though many years have passed, this case should be reopened, if for nothing else, for the sake of remaining relatives, and for fans of the movie who may want to know more. Bravo for your eloquent post! I hope that there are others of influence who may be thinking much the same as you, and that someday, this case can be concluded once and for all, laying all doubts to rest. And even though it may reveal the terrible injustice often undeserved death penalty, at least we won't be wondering anymore...

Please excuse typos/funny wording; I use speech-recognition that doesn't always recognize!

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I don't think we'll see Jodi Arias. She also happens to be very attractive.

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Karla Fay Tucker in Texas

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Ruth Ellis got executed.
Look her up.
She looked just like Marilyn Monroe.

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You should look at a few less high profile cases. All the women you mentioned also were in the right place at the right time when it came to media attention in their case. Darlie Routier was amazingly gorgeous when Texas sent her to death row for killing her two sons, and she even tried to downplay her sex kitten looks (fake boobs, bleached blond hair) to curry a little more favor. Nothing's worked and to this day she's still awaiting execution.

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