Was It Perry that killed all 4? because thats what it looked like to me, so why did Dick get the death penalty too then?
shareAccessory to 1st degree. Recall Charlie Manson got the death penalty and he wasn't even present during the murders. "He was convicted of the murders through the joint-responsibility rule, which makes each member of a conspiracy guilty of crimes his fellow conspirators commit in furtherance of the conspiracy's object"
shareThe charge is universally known as "felony murder". In other words, "in for a dime, in for a dollar". Besides, as a practical matter, once overwhelming evidence is presented that they acted in concert, the burden shifts to the defendant(s) to prove their innocence (i.e. rebut the State's evidence).
shareAnd the narrator (a masculine Truman Capote alter ego, LOL) stated that a forensic scientist mentioned Perry and Dick would have never acted alone, but the two of them formed a third person and that was the guilty party.
shareYes, but that was irrelevant psychobabble without legal force or meaning. Poster movies789 above was right: this was felony murder. Under the law, everyone involved in a felony is equally liable for all crimes committed during its commission, most especially murder. It makes no difference who actually did the killings.
Of course, if the prosecutors had had a weak case they might have tried to flip Dick to plead guilty and testify against Perry, the "technical" murderer, in exchange for life imprisonment instead of hanging. But they had enough evidence that they didn't need to do that.
No I think Perry had the knife and Dick had the gun...Perry killed the old man and Dick killed the rest of the family!
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wat are you lookin' at...
No I think Perry had the knife and Dick had the gun...Perry killed the old man and Dick killed the rest of the family!
Aiding-and-abetting
shareThe robbery was Dick's idea. And he vowed not to leave behind any witnesses.
share