This week, the results of the latest Gallup poll regarding capital punishment in the United States were released, and can be read in their entirety over at the Gallup site (which includes nice visuals). Here are some of their 2001 – 2010 findings, in summary:
Asked if they were in favor of the death penalty
Whether or not Steven Hayes will be sentenced to death will be decided soon – the case has gone to the jury. Of particular interest, the closing arguments of defense counsel reported in the New York Times as suggesting to the jury that the worst punishment they could give the defendant would be life in
As discussed earlier this week, the ability to consider QEEG Brain Mapping as evidence in capital trials is of major importance.
QEEG is different than other brain imaging tools.
Over the years, the ability of experts to provide analysis of the human brain through x-rays, CAT scans (Computerized Axial Tomography scans) or MRIs (Magnetic Resonance
For my blog readers, here is the press release issued earlier this week regarding QEEG admissibility:
Highly Publicized Grady Nelson Death Penalty Trial Sets National Precedent with Florida Circuit Court Judge Hogan-Scola’s Admission of QEEG Brain Mapping Evidence
Miami, Florida (PRWEB) 28 October, 2010 — “This may be the first time in any United States
Two nights ago (on Tuesday), Arizona executed Jeffrey Landrigan by lethal injection after the United States Supreme Court (5-4) okayed going forward, even though there is a national shortage of sodium thiopental, one of the three drugs used in the lethal injection "cocktail" that is used to kill the condemned man.
Sodium thiopental works as an
The latest John Grisham novel has just been published. Entitled The Confession, it is Grisham’s second work that fights against the death penalty – Grisham already became a vital and vocal opponent of capital punishment with his non-fiction best seller, The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town.
The Innocent Man came
As the defense team continues to put on its case for mercy during the penalty phase of Steven J. Hayes’ trial for the murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Michaela and Hayley, more and more media coverage is bringing the aspects of capital punishment advocacy to the public’s attention. Which is good.
Coming as no surprise to anyone following this case, Steven J. Hayes has been found guilty of capital murder in the Cheshire Connecticut home invasion case where Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Michaela and Hayley, died leaving only surviving spouse and father Dr. William Petit to testify.
(For details on this particular case, check out our post on the trial itself as well as the early media coverage which began long before jury selection.)
Whether or Not Steven Hayes Will Be Given the Death Penalty is Now the Issue
The job of the criminal defense team setting at Mr. Hayes’ table at this point is to fight against the death penatly. To do that, they must present admissible evidence in support of one or more of the mitigating factors as they are defined by the Connecticut Legislature. The New York Times reports that defense counsel are expected to take around 10 days to present their arguments during this second phase of the capital murder trial.
In the penalty phase, the state is allowed to present its case for capital punishment first. In this well-known case of a Cheshire suburbian home invasion gone very wrong, the prosecutors put on only one witness – relying on the evidence already presented during the guilt phase for the majority of their arguments that they had met their burden (see the list of the aggravating factors under Connecticut law, below).
The New York Times and the Hartford Courant are both following the trial, presumably each bit of the second phase of the trial will also be tweeted, and each day there are media reports summarizing the defense team’s work – witnesses presented, arguments made.
Defense Strategy Slowly Being Revealed as Penalty Phase Progresses
It has already become apparent that part of the fight will be to explain Hayes as the bumbling follower of his co-defendant, who defense witnesses – including law enforcement officials – describe as controlling and indeed, the evil mastermind of the tragedy. For instance, just this morning Judge Jon C. Blue granted the defense request to admit into evidence (over the state’s objection) both (1) diary excerpts and (2) certain statements made by Joshua Komisarjevsky which will support the defense’s contention, as they build their case for life and not death in the sentencing of Steven Hayes.
Connecticut Law Controls Evidence Presented by State and by the Defense
The defense attorneys are controlled not only by evidence law – what will, and what won’t, be presented to the jury, but also by the specific, defined arguments allowed by state law to be urged in a fight against the imposition of the death penalty. In Connecticut, the mitigation factors control the defense’s presentation just as the defined aggravating circumstances (below) controlled the state’s case. After the evidence is presented by both sides, the case will then go to the jury for consideration.Here are the mitigating and aggravating factors that control the case under Connecticut law:Continue Reading Cheshire Connecticut Home Invasion Trial Penalty Phase – Demonstration of How Mitigation Factors Play Out Under Connecticut Law
After posting on CNN.com’s interview of Texas Death Row’s Hank Skinner earlier this week, readers wrote to let us know about more television coverage of Death Row and Death Penalty issues this fall. Which is great news. The more public awareness is brought to these issues the better,right?
After all, that’s the main purpose of this blog: to
We’ve posted about the case of Texas Death Row Hank Skinner before: his case is now before the United States Supreme Court, where the High Court is considering if Skinner has a legal right to pursue a case in the civil system, in order to test evidence that was not tested at his criminal trial.