Because of my work for 20 years in the criminal justice system in a variety of capacities but for the majority of the time as a judge's assistant, I had a front row seat to a number of death penalty cases. My opinions are as a result of personal research and up-close personal experience. Just some things to think about:
We get it wrong 4% of the time.
True. How is this acceptable to anyone? Under what circumstances is it ever justifiable to kill the wrong person? And these statistics only include defendants who have been exonerated through DNA evidence. They don't include cases where DNA evidence is unavailable. Think DNA is available in every case? Think again.
I often hear it said that people support the death penalty in cases where there is 100% certainty that they have the right defendant. There is almost never a case where there is 100% certainty. I've seen many cases (not all death penalty) where an eyewitness pointed at the wrong person as the perpetrator. I've seen cases where people have confessed to crimes they didn't commit. This stuff happens.
And if you think about it, all you're saying is that the clever ones who manage to leave doubt in the minds of jurors get to live, and the stupid ones who were dumb enough to leave DNA evidence around, etc., are the ones who die. How is that a fair or equitable system?
The death penalty acts as a deterrent to others who may be thinking of committing a crime.
False. Well, at least in my experience, it's false. I don't know how anyone would prove this one way or the other. But I can tell you this: In all the years I did this work, I never heard a defendant say, "Well, I thought about killing him, but then it occurred to me that if I got caught, they might put me to death in 20 years or so. So I just punched him in the nose, instead." Nope, never heard that.
The death penalty is cheaper than housing a defendant for his entire life.
False. I never did a death penalty case that cost less than two million dollars, and that was just for the case at the trial court level. Remember, death cases are subjected to mandatory appellate review. At every stage, the defendant is appointed counsel and the case is reviewed -- and reviewed again. By the way, were you aware that when a death penalty case is reviewed by the appellate courts, it is only reviewed to determine if the trial court judge correctly applied the law to the facts as they were established at the trial court level? The facts as they are established are never again reviewed, and in the absence of major, compelling new evidence, they will stand -- even if they are wrong. This is how wrongful convictions -- and executions -- happen. Example: An eyewitness incorrectly identifies someone as the perpetrator of the crime. There is no DNA evidence to show otherwise. Based on (erroneous) testimony of the eyewitness, the defendant is factually established to be the killer. Nothing about the appellate process is designed to save him.
Here are some other things you may not know about death cases and how much they cost:
The instant a case is declared by the prosecutor to be a death penalty case, the defendant is appointed death-qualified attorneys. These guys are expensive. I never did a death penalty case where the defendant had fewer than three attorneys.
Death penalty cases are done in two stages: The guilt phase, and the penalty phase. These trials often last for months. Last death penalty case I did, we spent four months trying it in a neighboring county (too sensationalized in our home county), went through 1,500 prospective jurors to pick a jury of 18 (12 regular jurors and 6 alternates, because you don't want to get through 3 months of a 4-month trial and have to start over because you didn't pick enough alternate jurors). Jurors must also be death-qualified, meaning they have no philosophical difficulty in imposing the death penalty if they determine the case warrants it. I, for example, would not be allowed to sit as a juror on a death case because I am opposed to the death penalty.
NONE of this accounts for the time spent on these cases prior to the trial. Most death penalty cases take a minimum of 2 years to get to trial, and every one of those pretrial hearings costs money.
Average cost of a death penalty case is roughly 70% more than an LWOP (Life Without Parole) case.
The death penalty is easy to impose.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Every time someone says to me they could push the needle themselves with no problem, I understand they are only telling me they've never actually sat on a death case. One of the cases I did was one of those extremely rare cases where there was ZERO doubt of the defendant's guilt. The prosecution had a confession, DNA evidence and knowledge of the crime that only the defendant would know (location of buried bodies, etc.). The jury deliberated for FOUR DAYS in the guilt phase of that trial. When they rendered their verdict, I understood before I even saw it that I would be reading out a death verdict -- because every single juror was in tears and could not look at the defendant. Some jurors never get over such a traumatic experience.
Now, suppose you were a juror on such a case -- and later learned you had WRONGFULLY convicted a defendant who was then executed?
Death penalty cases affect more people by far than just the defendant and his family members. They can have lasting detrimental effects on every person who is involved in them. One of the bravest things I ever witnessed was the family of one victim who had died a truly horrible death at the hands of her killer. They were anti-death penalty BEFORE the loss of their loved one -- and they remained anti-death penalty after. They refused to forfeit their humanity even in the face of their excruciating loss. I still think about them and have enormous admiration for them.
Housing defendants for a lifetime gives them a lovely life, while killing them is justice.
False. State prisons are not pleasant places where everyone is on vacation. We sent our death-convicted defendants to either San Quentin or Pelican Bay. Both places are grim. If housed at Pelican Bay, a super-max, life is particularly dreary. Pelican Bay is situated in one of the most beautiful spots I've ever seen, nestled within sight of both the beach and a gorgeous redwood forest. Inmates can see these breathtaking landscapes during their one hour of exercise per day -- but will never experience it up close and personal again. Rather ingeniously cruel, in my opinion.
Like I said, just some food for thought.
We get it wrong 4% of the time.
True. How is this acceptable to anyone? Under what circumstances is it ever justifiable to kill the wrong person? And these statistics only include defendants who have been exonerated through DNA evidence. They don't include cases where DNA evidence is unavailable. Think DNA is available in every case? Think again.
I often hear it said that people support the death penalty in cases where there is 100% certainty that they have the right defendant. There is almost never a case where there is 100% certainty. I've seen many cases (not all death penalty) where an eyewitness pointed at the wrong person as the perpetrator. I've seen cases where people have confessed to crimes they didn't commit. This stuff happens.
And if you think about it, all you're saying is that the clever ones who manage to leave doubt in the minds of jurors get to live, and the stupid ones who were dumb enough to leave DNA evidence around, etc., are the ones who die. How is that a fair or equitable system?
The death penalty acts as a deterrent to others who may be thinking of committing a crime.
False. Well, at least in my experience, it's false. I don't know how anyone would prove this one way or the other. But I can tell you this: In all the years I did this work, I never heard a defendant say, "Well, I thought about killing him, but then it occurred to me that if I got caught, they might put me to death in 20 years or so. So I just punched him in the nose, instead." Nope, never heard that.
The death penalty is cheaper than housing a defendant for his entire life.
False. I never did a death penalty case that cost less than two million dollars, and that was just for the case at the trial court level. Remember, death cases are subjected to mandatory appellate review. At every stage, the defendant is appointed counsel and the case is reviewed -- and reviewed again. By the way, were you aware that when a death penalty case is reviewed by the appellate courts, it is only reviewed to determine if the trial court judge correctly applied the law to the facts as they were established at the trial court level? The facts as they are established are never again reviewed, and in the absence of major, compelling new evidence, they will stand -- even if they are wrong. This is how wrongful convictions -- and executions -- happen. Example: An eyewitness incorrectly identifies someone as the perpetrator of the crime. There is no DNA evidence to show otherwise. Based on (erroneous) testimony of the eyewitness, the defendant is factually established to be the killer. Nothing about the appellate process is designed to save him.
Here are some other things you may not know about death cases and how much they cost:
The instant a case is declared by the prosecutor to be a death penalty case, the defendant is appointed death-qualified attorneys. These guys are expensive. I never did a death penalty case where the defendant had fewer than three attorneys.
Death penalty cases are done in two stages: The guilt phase, and the penalty phase. These trials often last for months. Last death penalty case I did, we spent four months trying it in a neighboring county (too sensationalized in our home county), went through 1,500 prospective jurors to pick a jury of 18 (12 regular jurors and 6 alternates, because you don't want to get through 3 months of a 4-month trial and have to start over because you didn't pick enough alternate jurors). Jurors must also be death-qualified, meaning they have no philosophical difficulty in imposing the death penalty if they determine the case warrants it. I, for example, would not be allowed to sit as a juror on a death case because I am opposed to the death penalty.
NONE of this accounts for the time spent on these cases prior to the trial. Most death penalty cases take a minimum of 2 years to get to trial, and every one of those pretrial hearings costs money.
Average cost of a death penalty case is roughly 70% more than an LWOP (Life Without Parole) case.
The death penalty is easy to impose.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Every time someone says to me they could push the needle themselves with no problem, I understand they are only telling me they've never actually sat on a death case. One of the cases I did was one of those extremely rare cases where there was ZERO doubt of the defendant's guilt. The prosecution had a confession, DNA evidence and knowledge of the crime that only the defendant would know (location of buried bodies, etc.). The jury deliberated for FOUR DAYS in the guilt phase of that trial. When they rendered their verdict, I understood before I even saw it that I would be reading out a death verdict -- because every single juror was in tears and could not look at the defendant. Some jurors never get over such a traumatic experience.
Now, suppose you were a juror on such a case -- and later learned you had WRONGFULLY convicted a defendant who was then executed?
Death penalty cases affect more people by far than just the defendant and his family members. They can have lasting detrimental effects on every person who is involved in them. One of the bravest things I ever witnessed was the family of one victim who had died a truly horrible death at the hands of her killer. They were anti-death penalty BEFORE the loss of their loved one -- and they remained anti-death penalty after. They refused to forfeit their humanity even in the face of their excruciating loss. I still think about them and have enormous admiration for them.
Housing defendants for a lifetime gives them a lovely life, while killing them is justice.
False. State prisons are not pleasant places where everyone is on vacation. We sent our death-convicted defendants to either San Quentin or Pelican Bay. Both places are grim. If housed at Pelican Bay, a super-max, life is particularly dreary. Pelican Bay is situated in one of the most beautiful spots I've ever seen, nestled within sight of both the beach and a gorgeous redwood forest. Inmates can see these breathtaking landscapes during their one hour of exercise per day -- but will never experience it up close and personal again. Rather ingeniously cruel, in my opinion.
Like I said, just some food for thought.
