Should the state execute Ernest Lee Johnson?

Asked by ABC 17 News

564 Votes

Should the state execute Ernest Lee Johnson?

80%

Yes Yes

20%

No No

80%

Yes

A jury convicted Johnson in 1994 of the murders of three people at a Columbia convenience store. The murder weapon was a claw hammer.

A jury convicted Johnson in 1994 of the murders of three people at a Columbia convenience store. The murder weapon was a claw hammer. Show Less

5 Comments

Connie Sullivan

Enough is enough.

Donna Welborn-Dicus

This was not a passive murder (shooting), he actively beat these three victims to death with a HAMMER.

Max

This man beat the victims with a hammer, with such savagery that the initial investigation, it was thought that they had been shot in their faces with a large shotgun. He should have been put down many years ago.

Will Mason

It is time to stop wasting money on this fool. He should have been executed years ago.

N A

the death penalty is actually far more expensive than a system that utilizes life in prison

Chris Hill

Against the death penalty in general, but then there are cases like this one.

20%

No

Death penalty foes are trying to get the governor to spare Johnson after other legal efforts failed to get him off death row. They say Johnson is intellectually disabled.

Death penalty foes are trying to get the governor to spare Johnson after other legal efforts failed to get him off death row. They say Johnson is intellectually disabled. Show Less

3 Comments

N A

regardless of your stance on the death penalty, the supreme court clearly established in 2002 that it is considered "cruel and unusual punishment" to execute someone with a mental disability. Johnson repeatedly scored below the comprehension level of a 5 yr old on disability tests.

Christopher Watson

Two wrongs don't make a right, it's NOT justice, it's revenge, that is evil. Makes you no better than the Perp.

N A

in response to max de young: 1. no one was advocating this man ever be freed from prison 2. the death penalty is proven to not reduce the amount of violent crimes in a country

Max

But it will prevent another wrong, and that may save an undetermined amount of lives.

Letitia DenHartog

There is no way of knowing whether he understood what he was doing when he killed the people.

Max

I'm pretty certain the people he beat to death also failed to understand him too.

Should the state execute Ernest Lee Johnson?

80% Yes Yes

20% No No

80% Yes

20% No

80%

Yes Yes

20%

No No

80%

Yes

20%

No