Who Gets to Decide?

Tuesday, 8 November 2005, 8:56

Here in North Carolina, there is an execution scheduled for November 18.

Elias Syriani, 67, stabbed his wife (and the mother of his four children) twenty-eight times with a screwdriver in July 1990. She had recently filed for divorce. He did this in front of one of their children, as they sat in a car.

In August 2004, the children, all grown adults now, met with their father and forgave him. Now, they want Gov. Mike Easley to grant clemency, and allow him to serve life in prison instead of receiving the death penalty. Their reasoning?

“We’re just begging that this does not get carried out,” daughter Rose Syriani said during a press conference at the Legislature on Tuesday. “This is four lives that will be destroyed.”

Okay, so four lives (and probably more) weren’t destroyed when this man decided his wife no longer deserved to live, simply because she did not want to live with HIM??

I am not a die-hard fan of the death penalty, nor am I an opponent. I believe it is a legitimate punishment in some cases and should be used with discretion.

However, what I strongly believe in is justice, example, consistency, and the rule of law. A jury of this man’s peers decided he was guilty and that the death penalty was merited. I realize that the four children were the most impacted survivors, but where is it written that we should allow the survivors to decide the punishment? NOWHERE, and there are very good reasons for that. Emotion should not be involved here.

On our local talk radio show this morning, a caller said that since the children forgave him, he should be SET FREE. See where “let the children decide” gets you? What if that is what they were asking?

Now, should the governor at least meet with them? Some say it would be a kindness, even if doing so does not change his mind. I certainly agree with that. However, I hope the governor has enough sense to realize that by doing so, he opens himself up to meetings with the families of every death row occupant. Then, what if the wife of a man serving life in prison wants to meet with him, to beg for a pardon? Will he need to meet with her? Where does it end?

–Linked to Basil’s Breakfast

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4 Comments for “Who Gets to Decide?”

  1. 1Rose Syriani

    wrote on 4 December 2005 at 5:37

    Dear Jo,

    I am writing you in response to your comments posted on your web site about my family. You may or may not already know this —- but my father, Elias Syriani was executed on Nov. 18th 2005 one week before Thanksgiving. I am deeply sadden that there are people out there like you with such a judgmental mind and hardened heart as yourself. With all due respect, this did not happen to you or your family and therefore, it is impossible for you to completely understand our plea. The only thing we were asking was for the governor was to spare my father’s life… NOT TO LET HIM GO FREE! You mentioned that you are not a diehard fan of the death penalty but believe that it is a legitimate punishment in some cases. It is important for you to know that this is not a case solely based on emotion…. In fact, this is a very unique case that should be carefully looked at and all around the nation people are starting to see that executing my father was the TRUE INJUSTICE. If you would do some additional research on my father’s case and the legal aspects involved you would see that he did not have a fare trial nor did he have adequate legal representation back in 1990. The domestic violence groups and leaders that were against my father 15 years ago rallied with us the last few months in support of clemency. This was a strong statement to the public that domestic violence crimes should be treated differently. Do you know that my father was the first and last man to receive the death penalty in Mecklenburg County, however murder crimes continued through the years between 1990- 2005. I believe the death penalty was not a deterrent for these domestic violence acts, yet my father was the only one to suffer the utmost consequence. Where does that leave us Jo?
    Where would the people be if we left it up to the law, which only sees black and white, and not the true circumstances behind a horrible tragedy. Remember we are the people that elect officials such as the governor to intervene and review case by case before caring out an execution. In Governor Easley’s refusal to spare my father’s life he said “After careful review of the facts and circumstances of this crime and conviction I find no convincing reason to overturn the jury verdict affirmed by the state and federal courts”… Jo, this is the exact same response he has given to all his refusals to grant clemency. It is sad that he is a coward and would lean towards the politics involved rather that doing the right thing.
    There is not a day that goes by that we do not think about our mother. She was a wonderful person and would have wanted us to live a life full of forgiveness and compassion to others. Now, unfortunately, the governor of North Carolina has burdened us again with the task of forgiven him for killing my father and mending our broken hearts. If you would educate yourself on the details of this story, I promise you that you would think very differently about this case and the laws that are there to protect “we the people”. We were only asking for mercy for ourselves. And instead, we have been victimized yet again. From your web site, you seem like a pretty decent person. I only hope that you try and look at this topic with an open mind, and leave the judgement up to God, and not the governor of NC.

    With all respect and regards, Rose Syriani

  2. 2Trelaina

    wrote on 4 December 2005 at 7:58

    FYI, that post was written by me, not by Jo.

    I cannot understand the personal side, and did not say in my post that I did. I had an opinion and I posted about it from my perspective.

    I am sorry for your losses.

  3. 3Jo

    wrote on 4 December 2005 at 8:04

    Let me say I’m sorry for your loss. This is Jo responding, however, Tre is the one that posted this … there are 2 of us that post on this blog. She will read and respond to you.

    But — from me I will say this:

    As for the death penalty — unless DNA proves someone else committed the crime, the law is the law. He was convicted and received a sentence. The sentence then should be carried out.

    I realize that the death penalty is not the deterrent that it could be — and that’s because it’s not executed immediately. Should it be done in a timely fashion – not 10 to 20 years down the road – I believe it would work better as a deterrent. However, due to liberalization of our courts, the punishment is not doled out in a way for it to be deterrent.

  4. 4Rose Syriani

    wrote on 4 December 2005 at 15:21

    Thank you for your responses.

    I will leave you with one last quote “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”.

    God Bless you both.