The events surrounding the guilty plea and subsequent sentencing of Joshua Wade confirmed one thing in my mind – Alaskans have reason to be proud of our state and federal courts and judges. They take justice seriously and give it the respect it deserves.

We saw judicial propriety in Judge Phillip Volland as he professionally, yet firmly, entered an exacting sentence against the murderer after carefully allowing him an opportunity to voice what at that time genuinely sounded like an apology. Then, we saw the contrast between noble strength and goodness versus currish cowardice and evil as Judge Ralph Beistline gave no ground to the murderer and put him in his place after he revealed his insolence and made his shocking revelation that perhaps he has killed men as well as women.

All of this brought to my mind a recent United States Supreme Court decision that revolved around a Georgia capital murder trial. That Georgia proceeding reflected the exact opposite of what we saw and have reason to be proud of here in Alaska. Marcus Wellons was charged with rape and murder and brought to trial in Georgia state court. The stakes in the case were as high as they can get – the state sought the death penalty against Wellons. I will let the Supreme Court speak for itself in describing the events in that Georgia courthouse:

“Although the trial looked typical, there were unusual events going on behind the scenes. Only after the trial did defense counsel learn that there had been unreported ex parte contacts between the jury and the judge, that jurors and a bailiff had planned a reunion, and that “either during or immediately following the penalty phase, some jury members gave the trial judge chocolate shaped as male genitalia and the bailiff chocolate shaped as female breasts. . . .”

My first reaction to this judicial burlesque is: “What in the world was that judge thinking? For that matter, why exactly did the people of Georgia make him a judge?” My second reaction is: “What business did those twelve juvenile clowns have to sit as jurors in that trial over whether a man should live or die?” The Supreme Court summed it up with this: “judicial proceedings conducted for the purpose of deciding whether a defendant shall be put to death must be conducted with dignity and respect. The disturbing facts of this case raise serious questions concerning the conduct of the trial. . . .”

Now, who Mr. Wellons is and whether Mr. Wellons is guilty or not, are not my topics in this entry – by all accounts the evidence against Wellons for the murder of 15 year old India Roberts was overwhelming and his crime was particularly heinous. The Georgia Supreme Court summarized Wellons crime and the evidence against him and you can read it in detail at http://lawskills.com/case/ga/id/198/5/index.html

The following excerpt from the Georgia Supreme Court opinion establishes the brutality of the crime Wellons was charged with and his admission to having committed the acts:

“The autopsy revealed that the victim died from manual strangulation, which in itself would have taken several minutes. The autopsy also showed that Wellons had attempted to strangle the victim with a ligature, possibly a telephone cord, and that he had bruised her and cut her face and ear with a sharp object. The evidence suggested that Wellons had dragged or otherwise forcibly moved the victim from the kitchen up the stairs. . . . Finally, the autopsy revealed a vaginal tear and copious amounts of what appeared to be seminal fluid within the victim's vagina. She had defensive wounds to her hands, and her blouse was stained with her own blood. Although a not guilty plea was entered for Wellons, he did not dispute his participation in the crimes. Instead, he urged the jury to return a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity or guilty but mentally ill.”

We don’t have the death penalty in Alaska, except in the case of certain federal crimes as was true with Wade, but taking someone’s liberty for the rest of their life is awfully serious business nonetheless. I would be the first to say that our courts don’t always issue decisions we agree with, after all differences of opinion are to be expected in a community of diverse viewpoints. But, one thing that we can be proud of is how our courts and our judges take justice seriously and wrap it in the aurora of respect that it deserves.