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In May of 2000, five employees of a Wendy's in Flushing were killed in the basement, while two others were injured. John Taylor and Craig Godineaux were arrested and charged with the murders. While Godineaux pleaded guilty to the crimes and is serving a life sentence without parole, Taylor, a former Wendy's employee, was sentenced to death by lethal injection in 2002.
In the years since Taylor's sentence, the NY State Court of Appeals ruled, per the Daily News, that the "death penalty law, as written, was unconstitutional." And because the state Legislature never amended the law, the death penalty was eliminated. Now Taylor's lawyer is appealing his death sentence in hopes of life in prison instead.
Taylor is the only prisoner in the Unit for Condemned Persons at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, NY (the AP has details on his living conditions)All other death sentences since 2004 have been overturned to lesser sentences. However, Queens DA Richard Brown will argue that the 2004 decision only applied to overturning a different death sentence and has no bearing on Taylor's case.
Taylor's lawyer Kevin Doyle has said, "There is no question he is guilty of capital murder..The only thing we are contesting is the death sentence... My prediction is that the Court of Appeals will follow precedent and will resentence him to spend the rest of his life in prison without a chance at parole. The death penalty in New York is over."
Interesting fact: David Kaczynski, brother of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, is the head of New Yorkers Against the death Penalty.
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These people are living a resort lifestyle in prison compared to the projects from which they came. Life imprisonment is really more like a reward for them, especially considering the fact that most of them are on the "down low" anyways. Doesn't that make you all feel better to know that your tax dollars are being used for such worthy purposes...?
Remember to Vote Republican!
scum should be shot now. they are a waste of tax payer dollars. think of the victims of this. they aren't spending life with a paid pad, food ,and clothes on their backs.
those poor people these low lives killed had to make their living the hard way and died cause of these scum.
Bring back the punnishment aspect of prison.
A lifetime of HARD LABOR.
He gave up his rigts as a human, when he killed those people.
I'm against the death penalty, but when people do this shit how am I expected to maintain this position? I remember too well when it happened, and the horrible details.
Again, keep him alive and use him for medical experiments. Let some good come out of this.
Stories like this make it impossible for me to be against the death penalty.
I am 100% against the death penalty. However, I do heartily endorse exile. Put criminals in little rubber boats with a day or two worth of food and water, tow them out to international waters, and Voila! Not our problem anymore, and whatever happens next isn't our responsibility.
What a depraved selfishness and sense of entitlement these people have to believe that they have the power to take five lives but that theirs is so valuable that it must be spared!
There are poor people in the world who endure a worse lifestyle than what these worms get in the US penal system (entertainment, medical treatment, good nutrition). We are a nation without common sense.
"In the years since Taylor's sentence, the NY State Court of Appeals ruled, per the Daily News, that the 'death penalty law, as written, was unconstitutional.'
The above sentence is very poorly structured--the placement of "per the Daily News" implies that the NY State Court of Appeals used the Daily News as a legal source in determining that the law is unconstitutional, rather than (as I assume Ms. Chung meant) the Daily News being the source of the quote.
I usually enjoy reading Gothamist, but random typos and terrible grammar and structure are really irksome to much of your readership. It is difficult to take Gothamist seriously when such errors, which should be easy to pick up, go unnoticed by the staff.
I catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would. Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good
it's funny how people like this hate "the man" so much, but when it comes to their alledged rights, all of a sudden "the man" isn't looking too bad.
fuck this guy and his family. they should all endure the electric chair.
As a close loved one of one of the victims, I am angered at the fact that my tax dollars are actually being used to sustain John Taylor's every breath... Just as angered that my tax dollars are also being used to sustain Craig Godineaux as well.
When I'm asked of my position on the DEATH PENALTY...I struggle with my thoughts, answer...being religious and all. But as far as RIGHTS are concerns, I think these two bastards relinquished their rights when they savagely killed those innocent, hardworking individuals.
As I sat in court through the trials, I needed so much to get a sense of what kind of a person would commit such a crime...I stared right into John Taylor's eyes for many, many days...I tried to understand that "maybe he's a vicious animal" No, that's not it. Our society has the highest regards for animals. JOHN TAYLOR IS TRULY A REAL LIFE DEVIL... The Death penalty is too swift... My thoughts are people like him should be hung, immersed and deep fried into a large bucket of boiling oil; immersed at a rate of 1 inch of body part per minute. EVEN THEN HE WOULD NOT EXPERIENCE THE TYPE OF PAIN HE CAUSED TO THE VICTIMS AND FAMILIES LEFT BEHIND. THIS PAIN IS ETERNAL.
this is what i have 2 say about this, im sorry 4 all the pain that he caused everyone yes he was wrong but at the same time john is my uncle he was never the kind of person that would ever hurt anybody. i know & understand what he did was wrong but him being put 2 death is just as wrong he's a father & his children are the ones that have 2 live with the pain his children cant see him they are hurt 2 much by this. u lost a loved one but at the same time its like we lost a love one 2 & whoever said sum thing about projects my family has money & were not from the p.j so u shouldn't be stupid and say things u know nothing about