Indigent Defense in Capital Cases

 Terry Lenamon just finished a six week trial in Florida, where state prosecutors were seeking the death penalty for Vernon Dwayne Stevens.  Mr. Stevens, however, will not face capital punishment:  Terence Lenamon’s arguments for mitigation were successful and a life sentence was reached.

For details, check out the following documents in the Terry Lenamon Online

Terence Lenamon filed the following motion, his co-counsel David Markus argued the motion, and now Florida Circuit Court Judge Victoria Sigler has granted their motion regarding the unconstitutionality of Florida Statute 27.5304 – striking the law as unconstitutional.

Here is the Order (read the Motion with its briefing online in the Terence Lenamon Online

Terry Lenamon is in the news again as he fights to save two men from the death penalty in Florida, filing motions in two separate Marion County death penalty matters, on behalf of James Edward Bannister and Michael Lamar.

He is arguing that the Florida Statute 27.5304 not only establishes how private court-appointed counsel are

Terry Lenamon is currently in trial defending another high profile defendant, Joshua Fulgham, who is accused of killing his wife Heather Strong (read the Wikipedia article on her murder here).  The trial is taking place in Marion County, Florida.

For blog readers who follow Terry’s trial work, here are some links to the day’s

Cory Maples sits on Death Row over in Alabama, after having obvious and serious errors made by both his trial and appellate counsel which included some pretty big names in the legal industry.

And by "obvious and serious," we really mean blatant, ludicrous, and shameful treatment of an indigent defendant by, among others, one of

Over in Lee County, Robert Dunn has been arrested for the crime of shooting and killing his wife,  Christine Lozier-Dunn, inside of a Cape Coral, Florida, daycare center, Bobbie Noonan’s Child Care, on January 25, 2008. He’s facing trial for first-degree murder, first-degree armed burglary, and child abuse, and since Mr. Dunn couldn’t afford an attorney he’s been appointed

Yesterday, without comment, the United States Supreme Court denied the petition filed by Georgia Death Row inmate Jamie Ryan Weis

This is shocking. 

This is very bad news.  We’ve written about the Weis case before, including links to the amicus brief filed by a stellar list of Georgia legal scholars, fighting for