The Veiled Chameleon: August 2005: White Woman, Black Man

White Woman, Black Man

It'll be interesting to see how the story of a real life "Bonnie and Clyde" plays out. Here we have a black man, who was imprisoned, and a white woman, who was free to set up the means necessary for the planned escape of the man, both accused of murder in having executed that plan. It seems that as corrections officers were leading the man, George Hyatte, out of a court house, George suddenly yelled, "Shoot him!" Bullets rang out, killing one of the corrections officers, a Mr. Wayne "Cotton" Morgan. The other corrections officer managed to return fire, injuring the woman who was firing the shots, the prisoner's wife, Jennifer Hyatte. The authorities released these photos of the perpetrators:

The sheriff of Roane County, Tennessee said, "I would recommend death" as the penalty that they should face. I most certainly agree. When I was a child in school, I remember a teacher explaining to the class that the death penalty in my state applied whenever a murder is premeditated and/or whenever a murder takes place during the commission of another crime (in the latter case, suppose an armed robbery is taking place and someone is killed; arguably, they never intended to kill anyone, so there was no plan for a murder, thus this situation requires being addressed separately). In the case of the Hyattes, it certainly appears that both conditions took place, as the shooting was an essential element in George's planned escape.

I hope that Tennessee has a similar application for the death penalty as my state.

But there's something even more sinister about this crime. Not only did they plan a murder, and not only did the murder take place during the execution of another crime, but additionally the crime was not only against the fellow who was killed, but it was also against the state. Even if no one had been killed, we had our system of justice violently attacked and subverted. An attack against our government from the inside is no better than an attack from the outside - by malicious governments or terrorists. I would consider it to be a slap in the face to all Americans if these people receive anything less than the death penalty.

After they were caught, the authorities released these photos of the pair:

So I just click on a news story entitled, Mother says con's wife gullible about men. Oh lord...let the scapegoating begin. I find this lovely statement, made by Jennifer's mother, within its text:

Granted, the mother is probably suffering significant grief over these happenings. And the first response of nearly any mother is going to be to want to protect her child, to solve the problems, and make all of the bad go away. And given what is likely the mother's state of mind, I can't say that I blame her for saying such a thing.

But putting the grief aside for a few moments, consider that statement as (hypothetically) coming from a person who is of sound mind. If such a woman believes such a thing, I can't say that I'd be overwhelmingly surprised to find her raising children who murder. The statement is nothing else but a denial of personal responsibility. And raising a kid to avoid personal responsibility is just about the worst thing that a parent could do. Such avoidance is the primary reason for the evils that happen in this world.

The danger here is that such an argument will be used in court. Here you have a black man with a long rap sheet and a white woman who has no record at all. "He brainwashed her". What a load of crap. And, judging by the types of daytime television shows which become so very successful in America, I can see a jury of 12 nincompacs letting this bimbo off of the hook. Let's hope not.

Get over it.