OT: Samantha Josephson
- Thread starter nikolas22
- Start date
The jury took less than 2 hours to deliberate, he’s getting life in prison. If the solicitor hadn’t been too weak to go for the death penalty, he’d be going to death row.
Nathaniel Rowland was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering a 21-year-old University of South Carolina senior who mistakenly got in a car she thought was an Uber in Columbia’s Five Points in 2019.
www.postandcourier.com
Rowland convicted in 'mistaken Uber' murder of USC student; sentenced to life in prison
Nathaniel Rowland was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of kidnapping and murdering University of South Carolina senior Samantha Josephson, who mistakenly got into a car she
USCBatgirl21
Well-Known Member
Her family asked them to avoid the death penalty, from what I understand.
It’s the job of the solicitor to decide what he’s going to ask for. Whatever the motive was for the family asking to avoid the death penalty, it’s unknown. They could’ve done so in the hope that it would’ve made him plead Guilty without a trial. If so, didn’t work.
it’s just a fact..,if your house sells the day after you put it on the market, you didn’t ask for enough. And if you get a guilty verdict in a murder case in less than 2 hours, you didn’t ask for enough.
USCBatgirl21
Well-Known Member
I understand it's his job. It's also his job to respect and take into account the wishes of his victims.
I understand what you’re saying, but no, that’s actually not his job in anyway to go along with whatever sentence the family may seek.
USCBatgirl21
Well-Known Member
I didn't say to go along with it. I simply said to respect it and take into account.
He made the best decision he could for this case.
This quote from the very end of that article is tough to imagine; "They watched from an app on their phones and she’s moved away from Five Points, never to be seen again." My wife, my daughter and I use Life360, an app that allows you to keep up with the location of others within your 'circle'. What a helpless feeling that must have been to see her phone going somewhere odd and not being able to contact her or help. 
anybody could see this case was open and shut. The fact that they took less than 2 hours proves that point further. He should’ve asked for the death penalty. If they’d sought Life to avoid putting the family through trial, fine. But to seek Life AND go through a trial? Weak as hell.
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If I got arrested and that defense attorney were appointed to me, I'd go ahead and plea guilty.
This judge is a real hardass. I'm impressed with him.
USCBatgirl21
Well-Known Member
Judge Newman don't play. He is a really good Judge.
I'm glad my practice has never included litigation. I'd be a little nervous in front of him.
Death Penalty and Life in Prison are essentially the same thing these days. In the next 15 years death penalty will more than likely be abolished. Currently, the average time from sentencing to execution is around that 15-16 years between all the appeals.
USCBatgirl21
Well-Known Member
That judge kicked complete ass...so did the jury.
Circumstantial evidence delivered by the tons is good enough.
TBH, even the judge said the perp has no heart, just by looking at his actions and reactions.
I am happy for her family that they get a tiny bit of satisfaction, and I am happy for Columbia, USC and SC that a cold blooded murderer is off the streets.
Circumstantial evidence delivered by the tons is good enough.
TBH, even the judge said the perp has no heart, just by looking at his actions and reactions.
I am happy for her family that they get a tiny bit of satisfaction, and I am happy for Columbia, USC and SC that a cold blooded murderer is off the streets.
I always wonder why we haven't offered people on death row or life without parole the offer of assisted suicide. Seems like a win-win proposition to me.
the time it takes to execute someone, I agree is ridiculous. But with conservatives currently having a 6-3 Supreme Court majority and younger judges, I doubt it’s going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, if citizens get fed up enough with our ineffectual justice system, it’s possible the pendulum may swing the other way and the whole process may be sped up
I dont think it is going to be a Supreme Court issue but decision that is made state by state. 18 states that currently have death penalty law, haven't executed anyone in over 5 years. What I meant is that more and more states will start abandoning the death penalty like Virginia a few years back. In NC, no one has been executed in 15 years and counting.
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What a load of crap, thats what happened to drexel but Myrtle Beach is no worse then any where else.
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Myrtle Beach is a dump. Why do you think they call it MURDER Beach? Not by coincidence.
If I were Britannie Drexel's dad, I would have killed most of McClellanville by now.
oh STFU. I’ve lived in SC (and Horry County) my whole life and guess what??? The ENTIRE STATE of South Carolina is a dump. Columbia is a dump. Florence is a dump. Greenville is a dump. Charleston is a dump….yes indeed I said it, having old historical buildings doesn’t preclude or exclude you from being a dump, and Charleston absolutely is a dump. So it’s not like Murder Beach (yes, I call it that myself) is some kind of awful anomaly in an otherwise great State. There are little pockets of the state that aren’t dumps…downtown Georgetown isn’t a dump. Mount Pleasant isn’t a dump. The shopping district in Rock Hill isn’t a dump. Hell, there are big pockets of Murder Beach that aren’t dumps too. But by and large, the whole damn state is a dump. In fact, the northern coast of SC where MB is is really the most recently developed and populated part of the whole state. So if it’s really a dump, blame the rest of the state for infesting it.
Just proving facts below. Don't shoot the messenger.
https://www.charlottestories.com/my...-3rd-most-dangerous-city-in-america-for-2021/
As horrible as I feel for this family, they shouldn't have a say in the sentencing. Justice should be blind and equal. Now we get to pay for this sorry thug to sit in prison for the rest of his life. I bet he walks the streets again. Wait and see.
right, it bases the violent crime rate on a population of 35k and doesn’t take into account at all the several MILLION that roll through MB as it’s a year round tourist destination. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of crime in MB, but at any given time, there are 150k or more in MB, not the reported 35k. That changes the crime per capita drastically.
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Wonder where he will do his life sentence? I’m guessing he’s eligible for parole since I didn’t hear anything saying “life without parole”?
They call it Murder Beach because its a dumb catch phrase used by uninformed people.
Not necessarily those investigators she was talking about during closing she could have called them to the witness stand for the defense, of course the state wasn't gonna call them to the stand on their behalf it wasn't going to help strengthen their case.
Maybe she knew her client was 100% guilty and didn’t want to drag out this trial any longer. I would have enjoyed it if she would have put him on the stand and watch him bury himself even more.
Talking about and x-exam obviously have two different standards. She knew cross x-am wasn’t going to strengthen her case either. With overwhelming circumstantial evidence against her client she did manage to have people guessing about the outcome. Best she could do considering what she had to work with
They were setting up an ineffective counsel appeal from jury selection day.
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