Coincidental to this thread, in Ontario this morning...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl.../National/home
A man has been exonerated for a crime committed by Paul Bernardo 20 years ago: an assault on a 15-year old girl (not quite a child, but not an adult either...). The man initially plead guilty (and thus received a lesser sentence) because "he was scared and felt he would almost certainly be convicted."
It's for this reason that I'm against the death penalty in
all cases. No justice system can ever be perfect, but if we wrongfully convict an innocent person and sentence him or her to prison, there's always a chance that future evidence might clear their names. On the other hand, if the state executes an innocent, there's nothing that can be done to bring them back.