Kevin Cooper Is Innocent, and the State of California is Poised to Murder Him for a Crime He Did Not Commit

The New York Times published an opinion piece by Nicholas Kristof a few days ago that described the miscarriage of justice surrounding a quadruple murder committed in 1983 in Chino Hills, California.

The victims, who were murdered in their own home, had ready access to several firearms, including a loaded pistol and a rifle, but were unable to reach these weapons to use them in their defence.  One of the victims survived and described three white males as his attackers.  Multiple witnesses reported seeing three white males in the car which they had stolen from the victims, in one case wearing bloody clothing.

Despite the fact that the murderers stabbed their victims numerous times and had to have had complete control of the crime scene while committing four murders, the police decided to prosecute a single black man who had been hiding in a house next door that was vacant.  The police ignored the issue of how a single attacker could stab four victims while preventing them from reaching their firearms.

Despite all the really absurd inconsistencies, the prosecutor managed to convict Kevin Cooper of the murders and have him sentenced to death.  The sentence was nearly carried out but for a last-minute stay.  The only barrier to having Cooper declared factually innocent now is that the authorities refuse to test the blood on the murder weapon, a hatchet, which they still have.

Here is yet another example of the systemic racism afflicting our justice system.  It is discouraging to see so many obvious cases of prejudicial behavior and yet have the authorities claim that they are objective.