A new study has been released that argues that how someone looks has a great impact upon how they are perceived insofar as being sentenced for a crime.
According to this new research, someone whose face gives them an untrustworthy appearance is more like to get more years behind bars and harsher sentences.
The study
Paul Hildwin resides on Florida’s Death Row, having been sentenced to death for the 1985 killing of Vronzettie Cox who had been raped before she was strangled to death and her body left to be found in the trunk of a car.
Forensic evidence gets lots of respect from juries — some call it "the CSI effect" after the popular TV show (in all its spin-offs). However, this month we have even more news that justifies a less trusting view of evidence coming from a lab and being used to put someone behind bars — or on
This week, the Miami Herald ran an article discussing the current state of QEEG technology as a means to study the human brain and understand how the brain works and how it can be permanently damaged.
However, the article was more than a dry discussion of scientific methodology. Reporter David Ovalle wrote about how QEEG
Under Florida law, the judge will still have the final decision here.
What will the Judge do? We’ll know soon.
Meanwhile, congrats to Terry Lenamon for a great job of defending
Terry Lenamon fought long and hard to get QEEG Brain Mapping introduced as evidence in the death penalty trial of Grady Nelson last fall. The QEEG evidence was introduced. The judge sentenced Grady Nelson not to a sentence of death, but instead to life imprisonment.
That was almost a year ago, and now QEEG evidence
In 2002, the United States Supreme Court handed down Atkins v. Virginia – that’s less than ten years ago. Hard to believe, in many ways.
In 2009, Bruce Winick, Professor of Law and Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, and Director, Therapeutic Jurisprudence Center, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, published an article in the
Mental health professionals and those dealing with mental health issues are well aware of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). It is used everyday in the law, as well, and you can find a copy on most death qualified criminal defense attorney’s shelves – maybe more than one. In fact, you can
Deldelp Medina wrote a personal piece about the death penalty for the San Jose Mercury News — a poignant piece that provides a perspective that serves us all well. Sure, it’s focusing upon the California death penalty, which has become a California election issue. However, it also tells the tale of a Miami murder case