Brooklyn’s top prosecutor vowed Tuesday that he would pursue swift justice for slain Leiby Kletzky and dismissed suggestions that the boy’s killer was insane.
“Sometimes I wonder about what goes through defense lawyers’ minds,” District Attorney Charles Hynes said after paying a shiva call to Kletzky’s parents in Borough Park.
Hynes said he assured Kletzky’s family that he would stop at nothing to make sure alleged killer Levi Aron was convicted in the 8-year-old boy’s death.
“I wanted to make a personal commitment that every resource of this office will be used to make sure the issue is resolved in a way that is appropriate,” Hynes said after the 20-minute visit.
“I’ve got 16 grandchildren – four are the age of Leiby. I understand in a very special way the torture of this family,” he said.
Hynes said prosecutors are working with a wealth of evidence and are prepared to move the case forward soon.
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11 Responses
He hacked another human being to pieces. If that isnt insane, I dont know what is.
he’s a yid thats why?
Ruah Sh’tut, any time that one does an avera they are “insane”
The charges rightfully so should focus on the action.
Is there a reason that there is no call for the death penalty here?
He’s a yid, that’s why he isn’t insane?
With all due respect to the DA what has the fact that the accused either was/is or was not/is not insane got to do with him??? How or why is it in his power to ‘dismiss’ such a fact or not..?
#1, anyone can be driven to do anything. You don’t neccesarily have to be insane to kill someone else, just devoid of emotion and a sense of humanity/kindness.
#1 du host nit kain sechel——— insane means your not guilty do chaps nit???
#2 hes a yid????? thats davka why hes chayev meesah 1000X b/c of his dirty yarlmilkeh, that was in the pix. Ehr iz nit kain yid hes like Amalek Aisov who also came from a yid—SOOOOOOO. hES A MUSHCHOS THAT MUST BE DESTROYED . pUT HIM IN JAIL ONE NITE WITH OTHER CONVICTS —-FINITO –5 MIN-DONE
To 6 and 7. Is DA Hynes prosecuting under dinei torah or lihavdil the laws of NY State? No grand jury or judge cares unfortunately what the torah and halacha has to say about the matter. If the DA is going to run his mouth he better have the goods to back it up. The tabloid papers have already uncovered a number of anecdotes from people in brooklyn and memphis tennesse that indicate the guy isn’t dealing from a full desk. If the tabloids found these people so can a defense lawyer.
Mai, lav b’ha kamiflagi: that one holds if he is sane, they have found a Jewish murderer, and the other holds let’s find an insane Jew.
To #3:
#3 said: Is there a reason that there is no call for the death penalty here?
JUST READ THIS ARTICLE AND YOU WILL HAVE YOUR ANSWER:
A TIMELINE OF NEW YORK’S DEATH PENALTY
1600-1963
New York carries out 1,130 executions.
1890
NEW YORK was the First state to use the electric chair.
August 15, 1963
LAST EXECUTION IN NEW YORK STATE: Eddie Lee Mays
1965
Death penalty ELIMINATED for most crimes.
July 1972
U.S. Supreme Court INVALIDATES existing death penalty laws.
1974-1978
ATTEMPTS TO REENSTATE the death penalty ARE STRUCK DOWN by the courts.
1978 – 1994
Death penalty legislation passes the legislature, BUT IS VETOED by Governors Hugh Carey and Mario Cuomo.
The governors are consistently re-elected.
November 8, 1994
George PATAKI is elected Governor and PROMISES TO RESTORE the death penalty.
September 1995
Death penalty JUDICIALY REINSTATED and LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE sentencing OPTION is created.
June 2002
New York City Council calls for a MORATORIUM on executions.
(A moratorium is a DELAY or SUSPENSION of an activity:
March 2003
A Quinnipiac University POLL REVEALS that 53% of New Yorkers prefer life without parole and
ONLY 38% FAVOR the DEATH PENALTY!
June 2004
State’s highest court rules DEATH PENALTY STATUTE UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
September 14, 2004
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver PUTS A HOLD ON death penalty bill. A series of public hearings on capital punishment is announced.
December 2004 – February 2005
Five public hearings in New York City and Albany take place. OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of speakers OPPOSES REINSTATEMENT of the death penalty.
April 4, 2005
Report of hearings published, citing NUMEROUS FLAWS in the death penalty.
April 12, 2005
The Codes Committee of the New York Assembly DEFEATS the REINSTATEMENT BILL, ENDING such efforts during this legislative term.
New York has been without a death penalty since the state’s Court of Appeals declared the statute unconstitutional.
Efforts to reinstate the death penalty have so far been unsuccessful, in part because some former supporters of capital punishment have changed their positions as a result of new information.
“The conversation around the death penalty has expanded to include questions of innocence, fairness, and alternatives,”
“It is increasingly clear that the very real risk of
executing the innocent, not to mention the expense and effort required to even try and improve the system, has led people to turn away from the death penalty in recent years.”
Observers point to a growing skepticism about the death penalty among local, state, and federal legislators and within the judiciary. The
United States Conference of CATHOLIC BISHOPS recently reinvigorated their CALL TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY citing new statistics that shows LESS THAN 50% of Catholics now support the capital punishment.
NEARLY 4,000 GROUPS, churches, business, and
professional associations have called for AN INDEFINATE MORATORIUM on executions, including 142 city, town, and county councils.
Even FORMER PRESIDENT BUSH expressed open concern about the quality of death penalty trials. Also recently, Republican Senators Rick Santorum (PA) and Sam Brownback (KS) have expressed reservations.
“Over the past few years we’ve learned a lot about the realities of capital punishment. We know it costs far more than life in prison, that it creates ongoing anguish for victims’ families, that it diverts scarce resources from other critical programs, that it is used unevenly and unfairly, and that it risks executing the innocent”.
“New Yorkers have expressed what the rest of us across the country are continuing to learn:
“THAT OUR NATIONS DEATH PENALTY SYSTEM IS BROKEN!!”