Op-Ed: 10 Reasons Why Martin Grossman Should Get Clemency

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Op-Ed: 10 Reasons Why Martin Grossman Should Get Clemency

[Op-Ed By Yossi Gestetner] Following are Fact-Points regarding Martin Grossman – Why he should get Clemency instead of being executed on Feb 16, 2010 6:00 PM EST, for a crime he committed approximately 25 years ago, while intoxicated at age 19.

1) At age 15, Martin’s father passed away. Martin was the one needed to take care for his challenged Mom, rather than the other way around. In addition, Martin had little family around him. Result? A youngster who was ripe to get into trouble roamed the streets of Florida.

2) When Martin killed the 26-year-old Wildlife officer in the woods, he was under the influence of contraband drugs and/or he drank alcohol shortly after taking medicine for his mental challenges. Either way, he was NOT in a state of stable-mind to control everything he did or shouldn’t do at that time.

3) In addition to point two, Martin has an IQ of 77.

4) Martin did NOT shoot the officer in cold blood. Instead, because he was on probation, he pleaded with her that she not arrest him. She went on trying to arrest him. Things got out of hand, which took the life of Ms. Parks.

5) Some people wonder, if Martin was not in a stable state of mind, in addition to having a low IQ, how did he know that Ms. Parks may cost him trouble? Well, small-minded and deranged people understand that walking off a roof-top isn’t exactly a good idea. Sensing danger is what Under Influence people detect.

6) It appears criminal that Martin was on probation, however be aware of the fact that his crime was a stupid burglary, committed when he was age seventeen, a Juvenile without parents.

7) The MAIN reason prosecutors treated the Martin/Parks case as a first degree murder and in-turn requested the ultimate penalty, is due to Martin’s probation. As a result, prosecutors were able to claim that the Parks killing took place during a crime in progress. However, as indicated above, the “crime in progress” was Martin’s violating probation for a burglary he committed as a juvenile… (No one is advocating that burglary is not a crime. However, we would not want that a person should lose their life based on a burglary either…)

8 ) Martin did NOT have proper legal nor biological (family) representation at the time, thus permitting the prosecutors to have a free ride with this case.

9) The crime was done 25 years ago. While time does not take away the fact that the Parks family had pain all those years, executing Grossman at the scheduled time will not serve justice, considering that the calm, well-behaving, staying-away-from-trouble, repentant, grown-man, at age 44 in 2010 who never had a chance of a normal lovable life, is NOT the same person as the lost, 19 year-old, orphan who turned to alcohol and/or drugs to forget of his pains. The death penalty by NO MEANS is intended for such circumstances!

10) Justice waited more than 9,125 days (25-plus years) to finally get its day. Therefore, can justice wait maybe just another 60-90 more days to give those caring for Martin a chance to explore all legal avenues available?

We all ask and plea that YES should be the answer.

NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN.

To read more from and about Yossi, visit www.yossigestetner.com.

(Yossi Gestetner – YWN)