tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post2019122254444992584..comments2023-10-25T02:06:38.148-07:00Comments on Texas Death Penalty: Death Penalty discussionHooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-1837043305471362042007-02-16T23:30:00.000-08:002007-02-16T23:30:00.000-08:00DON'T GIVE THIS CUTE GUY A CHANCE TO EXECUTE "YOU"...DON'T GIVE THIS CUTE GUY A CHANCE TO EXECUTE "YOU" too!<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>S.A. eatery killer will be executed <BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>A Bexar County jury deliberated less than 2 hours Wednesday before <BR/>deciding convicted capital murderer Kevin Watts should die for last <BR/>year's Sam Won Garden massacre that left 2 cooks and a manager dead. <BR/><BR/><BR/>As 226th District Judge Sid Harle pronounced the death sentence, Watts, <BR/>22, showed little emotion. <BR/><BR/><BR/>His girlfriend and mother of his 2-year-old daughter wept, and a member <BR/>of Watts' family helped her out of the courtroom. <BR/><BR/><BR/>"I love my family, and I want them to know that I'll be all right to the <BR/>end," Watts said in a brief statement before being led away in cuffs. He <BR/>also apologized to the family of the victims, tempering his apology with: <BR/>"If they hate me, they hate me." <BR/><BR/><BR/>Insik Kim, the restaurant's former owner and father of one of Watts' <BR/>victims, said afterward, "His apology, right now I cannot accept it. <BR/><BR/><BR/>"I hope nothing happens again like this in San Antonio," he said. <BR/><BR/><BR/>Watts was convicted last week of capital murder, which made him eligible <BR/>for death row or a life sentence. A life sentence would have made him <BR/>eligible for parole in 40 years. <BR/><BR/><BR/>"He would have been a danger during that 40 years in prison," said <BR/>Assistant District Attorney Bill Pennington, the lead prosecutor in the <BR/>case. "This was the right punishment." <BR/><BR/><BR/>The city's tight-knit Korean community has grieved over the murders. <BR/><BR/><BR/>Throughout the trial, jurors wept openly and showed their shock over <BR/>evidence presented by the prosecution. <BR/><BR/><BR/>After the death sentence was announced, several jurors hugged members of <BR/>the victims' families and gave their condolences. <BR/><BR/><BR/>On March 1, 2002, Watts entered the Northeast Side restaurant at 4527 <BR/>Goldfield Road. The restaurant wasn't yet open when Watts entered and <BR/>fired a gunshot into the ceiling as four workers prepared for business. <BR/><BR/><BR/>He rounded up the 4 workers into the kitchen and shot three of them in <BR/>the back of the head: Hak Po Kim, 30, the restaurant owner's son; and <BR/>cooks Yuan Tzu Banks, 52, and Chae Sun Shook, 59. <BR/><BR/><BR/>He allowed the fourth worker, Kim's new bride, to live but testimony <BR/>showed he abducted her and sexually assaulted her before police caught up <BR/>with him at a North Side apartment complex. <BR/><BR/><BR/>In closing arguments Wednesday, defense attorney Tina Tussay argued to <BR/>the jury that although the evidence against her client was damning, <BR/>sentencing Watts in retaliation would be wrong. <BR/><BR/><BR/>She argued that Watts had gone on a narcotic and alcohol consumption <BR/>binge prior to the homicides and that he "suffered a drug-induced <BR/>psychosis" that led to his actions. <BR/><BR/><BR/>Besides the Sam Won restaurant killings, Watts' criminal history only <BR/>includes a string of misdemeanors that wouldn't mark him as a threat to <BR/>society, Tussay said. <BR/><BR/><BR/>"2 wrongs don't make a right," Tussay told jurors. "Don't go back and <BR/>retaliate because of the anger you feel." <BR/><BR/><BR/>But prosecutors countered that Watts is a continuing threat, noting he's <BR/>a member of a street gang and has aspirations of joining a prison gang. <BR/><BR/><BR/>After the punishment was announced, Tussay said the jury's decision only <BR/>claimed another life. <BR/><BR/><BR/>"What a waste of 4 lives," she said. <BR/><BR/><BR/>Kim's wife, who testified twice during the trial that Watts was the <BR/>killer and a rapist, was allowed to address Watts before he was taken away. <BR/><BR/><BR/>However, an employee with the district attorney's office had to read her <BR/>note aloud because the young woman began sobbing uncontrollably as she <BR/>stood within 10 feet of Watts. <BR/><BR/><BR/>"My husband and I were very happy," she wrote. Watts "took everything <BR/>that I have." <BR/><BR/><BR/>(source: San Antonio Express-News)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com