Azania case demonstrates why death sentences are pointless
October 21, 2008
Finally, 27 years after he killed a Gary police officer, Zolo Agona Azania has received a final and appropriate sentence – 74 years in prison.
Azania’s case was transferred to Allen County way back in 1982, and though his conviction for gunning down police officer George Yaros during a bank robbery has never been reversed, his original death sentence was.
First, appeals courts ruled that Azania had ineffective counsel. He received a second death penalty trial in Allen County, but that death sentence was thrown out after attorneys showed that a problem in juror selection wrongly excluded blacks, essentially preventing Azania, who is black, from his right to a jury of his peers.
Last year, the Indiana Supreme Court cleared the way for another trial. But some of the witnesses have died, and some evidence is gone. If prosecutors lost, Azania could have been freed in three years, after serving half of a 60-year sentence.
So prosecutors last week agreed to allow Azania to plead guilty to murder and bank robbery – a crime he wasn’t previously charged with – with 14 years tacked on to the 60-year sentence. Because Indiana inmates can be released after serving half their sentence, Azania will not be up for parole for another 10 years, when he will be 64.
The length of the case displays yet again the futility and unfairness of the death sentence. Prosecutors were right to agree to drop the death penalty.
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