The Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón has requested a the reversal of a 1994 death sentence of a ‘mentally’ ill man who killed two college students, calling the penalty ‘racist and morally untenable.’
Raymond Oscar Butler, now 46, was 18 years old when he killed Marymount California University students Takuma Ito and Go Matsuura in a 1994 carjacking in San Pedro.
Gascón has now requested to overturn his capital punishment sentence in a 264-page filing earlier this month, according to the Whittier Daily News. The DA said the murderer suffered from ‘significant cognitive impairment’ during the time of the crime due to mental illness and trauma.
The motion stated that Butler’s cognitive impairment caused him to abuse drugs and alcohol to numb his distress, the Whittier Daily News reported.
If the motion is granted, Butler’s sentenced will be reduced to life without parole. However, it does not reverse the separate death penalty Butler received for fatally stabbing another inmate in 2012.
In a video posted to his Twitter, Gascón – who is strongly against capital punishment – said that ‘over 50 percent of the people that are on death row today, including those from this county, which is approximately 250, have severe mental health problems.’
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Raymond Oscar Butler, now 46, was 18 years old when he killed Marymount California University students Takuma Ito and Go Matsuura in a 1994 carjacking in San Pedro
The two aspiring filmmakers (pictured) had pulled into Ralph’s grocery story after having dinner with their friends when Butler shot them both in the back of the head and carjacked them
Los Angeles DA George Gascón, 68, recently filed a 264-page report calling for the reversal of Butler’s death penalty sentence, asking for it to be reduced to life without parole (pictured: Butler in 1994)
He also criticize the mass amounts of money that goes into capital punishment. Capital punishment costs more than imprisoning an inmate for life.
Gascón said imprisoning inmates for life without parole costs around $100,000 a year, whereas death row convicts cost around ‘a half-a-million dollars a year.’
The DA, who has been immensely criticized for his lax bail laws, said he was ‘against the death penalty, but that does not equate to no accountability.’
The 68-year-old also criticized that the death penalty has been ‘disproportionately applied to people of color, to poor people, to people with mental health problems.’
However, no matter how Gascón morally justifies his decision, critics are blaming him for not being ‘transparent’ and not ‘respecting the jury’s decision.’
‘George Gascón doesn’t subscribe, understand, or agree with these values. And, as this case makes clear, he still believes he is above the law and beyond question,’ Eric Siddall, the VP of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys, told the Whittier Daily News.
Back in 1994, the students’ murder garnered international headlines after they were fatally shot on March 25 in a supermarket parking lot.
The aspiring filmmakers had just finished having dinner with friends when had pulled into Ralph’s when Butler carjack them.
Gascón, who is largely against the death penalty, said Butler’s sentence was ‘racist and morally untenable’ due to his mental illness. He also argued that ‘over 50 percent’ of death row inmates are mentally ill, people of color, or poor and it costs significantly more to house them than regular inmates
Butler shot both men in the back of the head before jumping into the 1994 Honda Civic after dumping the bodies.
The men were taken to the hospital and put on life support until their families were able to fly over from Japan.
Butler was arrested a few days later after being picked out of a lineup.
At the time, Butler’s mother Donna said the ‘system’ had failed him and her son suffered from suicidal tendencies and alcohol addiction, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1994.
Butler attempted suicide at the age of 17 by drinking two bottles of liquor and had been committed to a psychiatric hospital for 72 hours, his mother said in 1994. She reportedly begged doctors to keep him longer, but he was discharged after his mandatory hold.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk