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If I was Amrozi and I wanted death - I would still appeal. It will drag out the process and give him a longer 15 minutes of fame. I've seen conflicting econometric studies on the effectiveness of the death penalty - but as I've said elsewhere, I'm ready to be convinced that it works if somebody can show the case with minimal doubt. Otherwise, I'll fall back on my lack of faith in government... :) An interesting aside - if you believe in the death penalty for the dissincentive effect and you believe that killing one saves 8 - then what does it matter if you kill an innocent person? Killing one innocent person to save eight innocent people is life and utility maximising. You could get a random person, fabricate a case against them, try them, kill them and you'd save eight other lives. Also, what makes you think the case for treason, sedition, mutiny or terrorism are more likely to be unambiguous. You have picked four examples of crimes against the government - as though it is worse to attack the government than it is to attack a human. In my opinion, a mass murderer is more deserving of the death penalty than George Washington or Nelson Mandella. Indeed, I can think of more legitimate reasons to defy the government than I can for killing another human.
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