Posts Tagged ‘David Lee Powell’
The Death Penalty is Dying
By Mike FarrelAs president of the board of Death Penalty Focus, an abolition organization, I find myself discussing executions a lot.
Whether to kill a person who commits a violent crime is a thorny question for some, I know, so I don't mind talking about it. Thoughtful consideration of the subject is actually a pleasure. The problem is that it's not easy to have a rational discussion about something like state killing when support for it is largely the result of emotion, fear, ignorance and the cowardice of political leaders who know better.
(more...)The David Lee Powell Story
In the early morning hours of May 18, 1978, Austin police officer Ralph Ablanedo pulled over a red Mustang on a minor traffic violation. The car was missing a rear license tag, and the driver, Sheila Meinert, was driving without a license. Ablanedo called to run a check on Meinert and her boyfriend David Lee Powell, the owner of the car, but the computer system was down. He let them go, but within minutes he was radioed that Powell had some outstanding misdemeanor warrants. He pulled the Mustang over again, got out of his unit and approached the car. Before the night was over, Ablanedo would be dead.
