Tough decision faces judge in child killer case
By Janelle MacDonald - bio | email
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - A Louisville judge will take a month to decide the sentence for Cecil New and it boils down to life or death. He will either get the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
Only a few people know what Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman is going through as she decides the punishment for the man who killed Ivan Cano, 4. We went to one of them, a retired judge, to find out what goes into this life or death decision.
"There's a lot of pressure on you and you can't ignore that: pressure from the community, pressure from the family, pressure from both sides," said Retired Judge Thomas Knopf.
Knopf knows all about the pressure. He spent 25 years on the bench and can sympathize with the enormous decision Judge McDonald-Burkman has before her in the New/Cano case.
"I've been listening on the radio," Knopf said. He added it was "reminding me of my days being a judge. It just weighs on you making the right decision that you believe is right and fair in light of the circumstances."
He says in the end, whether the defendant is Cecil New or someone not as well known, decisions are what judges do. It's their job.
Since the death penalty is such a hotly debated issue, Knopf says it's fair to say Judge McDonald-Burkman will get letters from one side and the other.
"You listen," he said. "You read all that, you listen to what people say in court but the ultimate decision is yours. You get paid to make these big decisions and they're tough."
What makes it tougher is that the New/Cano case is so rare. Another retired judge said Wednesday, he can't remember a case where a judge alone and not a jury has to decide on a death sentence.
Knopf agrees.
"Most individuals would want the jury to sentence because they believe they have more swing over 12 people versus one individual judge," Knopf said.
Kentucky's Administrative Office of the Courts doesn't keep records on how many times a judge is asked to make a decision on the death penalty.
It did provide numbers that show in the past 15 years in Kentucky, only 26 death sentences have been handed down. In that same time period, 564 sentences of life in prison without parole have been handed down.
Cecil New will find out which one is his fate on December 17.
Previous Stories:
- Child killer to be sentenced on Dec. 17
- Cecil New's mother apologizes to family of murdered boy
- Ivan Cano's parents testify in Cecil New sentencing
- Sentencing hearing begins today for convicted sex offender
- Thousands of pages of evidence unsealed in New case
- Cano family reacts to Cecil New guilty plea
- Cecil New pleads guilty in 4-year-old's murder
- Change of venue denied for Cecil New
- Prosecutors: New talked about killing witnesses
- Defense wants New jurors sequestered
- New's lawyers want more statements to police suppressed
- Search dogs hit on locations in and around New's apartment
- New's prior relationships could be presented to jurors
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