A life sentence without the possibility of parole may be overturned in the future by our crummy State Supreme Court judges, therefore the death penalty should be given to bolster the sentence.

This is why Manson family member Leslie Van Houten was denied parole.

The anger from Alicia's family should not be directed towards Stephanie's family in the court room nor outside the court room, I just happen to witness Alicia's brother making uncalled for remarks in the court room towards erends family members, that caused him being removed from the lobby area. YOU CANT POINT BLAME AT THEM ! ! We will all miss Alicia, she was loved by all ! ! It was a very unfortunate incident for all who are involved !

ELLIOTT- "An unfortunate incident"???? You have GOT to be kidding. This young woman was MURDERED! Her family will never see her married or have children. For them, there will be a hole in their lives FOREVER. You make it sound like Erends ran over their dog (how unfortunate).. This was a human life, and her family has the right to be angry at everyone who had a hand in raising the person who became a murderer. They Erends family better get thick skinned, they love and support (and rightfully so) someone who is on trial for murder and should expect anger and resentment from the victims family.

Any anger directed to the defendant and their family is understandable, for this reason until you have put on and have walked in the shoes of both the defendant’s family and the victim’s family it is easy to say how people should act when it comes to a situation like this .I speak from experience and anyone who has been in the court system as a victim or the family of the victim

Will understand that sometimes it feels that the defendant has more rights than the victim and the anger starts to mount and it is easy to direct that anger towards friends or family members of the defendant, it took me a long time after the trial I was involved in to start to think rationally and think that the defendants parents were watching their son on trial for a very sick and disturbing crime and you know that they had to be asking themselves “where did we go wrong raising our child” I realized that we were not the only victims but so wasn’t everyone in the defendants family ,and not by their choice . I do believe that if someone takes a life then they should pay with their life. This is just how I feel I am not trying to change anyone’s mind or stand on the death penalty .i am just sharing an event in my life that took place. And also say that when you hear people say well if that person gets either life in prison or the death penalty then the victims’ family can have some closure, well anyone who has been through any kind of trial where they have lost a family member or loved one or maybe haven’t lost that person the only closure you get is that the trial and days of going to the courthouse are over but the scars of the crime will remain with the victims’familes and friends for the rest of their lives anytime a birthday or a holiday comes up or a song plays on a radio that reminds you of the victim places you might have spent time with the victim so the phrase closure really isn’t the right one I think I say its more like you learn to live with it and carry the memories of victim in your thoughts and in your heart the rest of your life . and yes I am sure that the defendants family goes through something similar but I had never had to wear those shoes and I pray I never have to .

hocky1-Excellent post, and all your points are well stated.

I also agree that if you murder someone you should get the death penalty. Save more room in the prisons for other idiots that are in for robbery or drug possession.

Elliot

Your an idiot. Keep your uneducated ignorance to yourself. If you knew the whole story behind this whole thing you would crawl back into the hole you came out of with your stupid comment. I hope the murdering @&*%&# feels every bit of pain that she put everyone through times ten. I give her brother Brandon respect and props for not taking out all of her family for the stupid comments they made in the court room. The anger from there family should be directed at her famiy and the Psycho @&*%&#! Love you guys(ernst)

The family of Alicia has every right to be upset in or out of the courtroom. It's easy to make comments about how people should handle their grief when its not directly affecting you. When a murder is that grusome and planned for that long, the person deserved to be sentenced to death.