Justice delayed is justice denied.

William Gladstone

British Prime Minister

1868-1894

A travesty within the criminal justice system, which had its tragic origin in Des Moines almost seven years ago, drags on in King County Superior Court.

On March 8, 2001, Richard and Jane Larson, their grandson Taelor Marks and his girlfriend Josie Peterson, an Evergreen High School cheerleader, were brutally slain at their home in Des Moines.

Two days later, Leemah Carneh, now 26, who allegedly was obsessed with Miss Peterson, was arrested and charged with four counts of aggravated first-degree murder.

Mr. Carneh faces life in prison without parole if convicted. Yet he may be no closer to trial now than he was then.

For much of this time, having been found mentally unfit to stand trial, he has been held for treatment at Western State Hospital.

When the charges against Mr. Carneh were dismissed in 2005 and he was sent from the King County Jail back to the mental treatment facility, prosecutors said it was unlikely, even if he never went to trial for the murders, that he ever would be free again.

But late last year, prosecutors learned the defendant had made enough improvement to be unsupervised and perhaps even leave the grounds of the institution.

At that point, they re-filed the charges of aggravated first-degree murder against him.

Yet now, he again has been found mentally unfit. Western State staff believe additional treatment alternatives can help Mr. Carneh become competent so he finally can stand trial.

And once again, his defense attorney is trying to block that move since previous attempts at treatment have failed.

This man - this coward, who hides behind the charades of his lawyer, whose legal games make a mockery of our criminal justice system - deserves to stand trial.

He deserves a fair trial, to be sure.

But Mr. Carneh deserves never to walk free again, regardless of his mental state, until he has been held to account in a court of law for the four counts of aggravated first-degree murder with which he is charged.

Anything less denies justice for the victims, who cry out from their graves, and for the families of those who were murdered whose lives never will be the same because of their losses.

And it denies justice for all of us in civil society who, until Mr. Carneh stands trial, live with a threat that last fall almost was realized - that an accused killer could escape trial and return to the outside world, where he could kill again.

If ever that should happen, the blood of those victims would be on the hands of the lawyer and the judges who let him go free.

* * * *

IN HIS Jan. 23 column, Eric Mathison praised some Highline-area churches for continuing the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by "practicing a positive social gospel."

Without doubt, practicing a social gospel is essential. The letter of James in the New Testament reminds us that faith in God counts for nothing unless it is accompanied by works that help others.

If you're going to talk the talk, you have to walk the walk.

This is made clear by Jesus in the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke's gospel, and his admonition in Matthew 25 that "just as you did it (or did it not) to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it (or did it not) to me."

The Good Samaritan, however, did not ask the innkeeper to bill the Roman treasury to pay for his care of the stranger who had been assaulted by thieves. The Good Samaritan paid that bill.

Conservatives rightly disagree with liberals who claim that the social gospel requires us as a society - translation: the government - to pay for all kinds of social programs for the disadvantaged.

Jesus and St. James, it should be remembered, require believers to practice their faith by acting as individuals to provide for and help others who are in need.

Individual responsibility, not government involvement, gives meaning and life to the social gospel.

The views of Ralph Nichols are his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of Robinson Newspapers. He can be reached at ralphn@robinsonnews.com or 206-388-1857.