Another “sort of homecoming”

Father of Jeannie Nichols is shown after the verdict

An acquittal reported tonight of a man who spent fifteen+ years on the row in Tennessee. One small problem…

Huge news out of Chattanooga today. Michael McCormick, who spent 16 years on Tennessee’s death row before winning a new trial, was found “not guilty”of the 1985 murder of Jeannie Nichols. Though Ms. Nichols family still believes in McCormick’s guilt, the jury deliberated for seven hours on Tuesday and a couple of more hours today before returning the verdict. Read more about the case here.

A hair found in Ms. Nichols car, used to convict McCormick in his first trial, was later found not to belong to McCormick after DNA testing. Such different outcomes in his trials highlight why the risk of the death penalty is too great and should not be employed in any case. Any human institution does and will make mistakes and such error is irreversible when the death sentence is imposed and carried out.