Capital Punishment.

I was reading about death penalty to somebody who killed 4 people about 20 yrs ago in California. And I thought judiciary is slow in India. ;) It seems Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to hear clemency plea. And I thought he was having fun as Governor. :)
I always thought being judge is a very difficult thing. Yeah, there are set of rules(constitution) according to which each convict has to be treated. If it is the case, can we automate the whole process?
In India, Judges deliver judgement by saying "I believe/ I do not believe..) So is discretion allowed?
I know many cases where criminals were let off by loopholes in system, bad lawyers, corrupt judges. Another disturbing trend I observe (in India) is that, some innocent people are convicted because the opposite party is rich/powerful. When say innocent, it need not be absolutely innocent. I am talking about innocence relevant to the case.
How can anybody send somebody to jail for X years even when they know that, the guy is innocent? Are we so desperate for money? What will old aged judges do with all that ill gotten money? Buy real estate, jewelry, services of prostitutes,.. I wish I could kill all those corrupt serpents.
Coming back to capital punishment, do we have right to take life? Usual examples crop up. Rapists, psychos... Are we not responsible for such emergence of such characters. Don't we need to try to reform instead of eliminating all such persons.
Probably to reduce discussion about capital punishment to such a low level might not be right. I just hope there is an elegant solution for this tricky issue.
Capital punishment, being Vegan, Morality (wrt sexuality, discrimination, self preservation,..) , abortion,....Too many issues. :( :)