The Commonwealth's Attorney (District Attorney) has said that he will take into account the wishes of the family of Yong Hui Zhang in the matter of whether or not to seek the death penalty for the people who murdered their son. Two people are in custody and are charged with a number of crimes but not yet charged with murder in the case. If they are charged with murder this could set an interesting precedent that could well cloud the process in future.

The victim's family are Buddhists and capital punishment is a punishment contrary to the precepts of Buddhism. Considering their wishes looks simple enough on the surface but as is often the case, below the surface is where the pitfalls are found. What of the family that tells a prosecutor that they follow the elements of the Buddhist faith when they in fact do not? More difficult would be the case where a family is of a religious persuasion that adheres strictly to an "eye for an eye" concept of justice. While this might not be a true legal precedent as a judges decision might be it does seem that there is a giant size can of worms that this might open. I won't slog through the theoretical scenarios that might arise as a result but it seems to me that the Commonwealth needs to handle the case on the basis of the law alone at this stage. What do you think?