The reason I'm against the Death Penalty

I am against the death penalty for a couple of reasons, one being there are flaws in our legal system. For instance there is an AP story
today in which a Texas man was freed after being in jail for 26 years. The entire time he was in, he maintained his innocence. Here is a piece from the story:

A man who contended throughout his 26 years in prison that he never raped a woman who lived five houses down from him was freed Thursday after a judge recommended overturning his conviction.

Charles Chatman, 47, was released on his recognizance as several of his eight siblings cheered. He was freed on the basis of new DNA testing that lawyers say proves his innocence and adds to Dallas County's nationally unmatched number of wrongfully convicted inmates.

"I'm bitter. I'm angry," Chatman told The Associated Press during his last night in jail Wednesday. "But I'm not angry or bitter to the point where I want to hurt anyone or get revenge."

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Chatman was 20 when the victim, a young woman in her 20s, picked him from a lineup. Chatman said he lived five houses down from the victim for 13 years but never knew her. At the time the woman was assaulted, Chatman said he didn't have any front teeth; he had been certain that feature would set him apart from the real assailant.

Now I know this was not a death penalty case but what if it was? What if the victim would've been killed in the process, being in Texas, who lead the nation in executions every year, He would've been most likely tried and put to death. Mr. Chapman would've been able to appeal for a few years but the appeal process would not have been allowed to go on for 26 years. He would have most likely been put to death before his innocence was proven and the case would have been closed.

Another reason I'm against the death penalty is because it's not handed out equally. If a rich man and a poor man both were charged with first degree murder, who do you think is most like to be sentenced to death? I doubt the rich man will because he can go hire a team of high priced lawyers and get off on some technicality or get the sentenced reduced where as, the poor man would get some lawyer appointed and probably end up on death row.

So the reason I'm against the death penalty is because there are holes in the legal system which could lead to innocent people being put to death and the class issue. The death penalty is overwhelmingly handed out to people that can not afford descent representation.