When a defendant is found guilty of charges that are grounds for the death penalty to be imposed, the counsel for the defendant must be in top form. Their death penalty work must be the best available. Some of the requirements of the defense team should possess specific qualifications. The defense team must have no fewer than two criminal lawyers, one of which should be an investigator and the other should be a specialist in getting reductions of sentences. One of the members should have the training to recognize any mental impairment. Counsel must have access to any expert and services of an investigative nature that are deemed necessary for the level of defense required.
Attorneys for the defense of a death penalty offense must have a better than average understanding of the law governing death penalty work. One of the criminal lawyers should have skill levels consistent with researching and drafting of documents to contest the sentence. Great communication skills are also a necessity for this legal job.
Circumstances that may prove the crime was not as severe as stated by the prosecuting attorney should be well researched by the defense team and presented as evidence. It does not hurt to be an eloquent speaker when it comes to questioning the jurors, as well as selecting them, cross-examination of witnesses, and the opening and closing statements.
The criminal lawyer must know how to question their witnesses to get the expert testimony that could save their client. Forensic evidence is another area that should be in their repertoire of experience for this legal job.
Prosecution vs. Defense in Death Penalty Cases
On the other hand, the defense has only to disprove what the prosecutor is saying happened. The evidence has to be shown to be explainable when it comes to death penalty work. The defense can try to second guess what the prosecutor is going to present as evidence and be ready with a rebuttal that will make the jury believe them. The responsibilities for both of these legal jobs are heavy when it comes to cases involving the death penalty. The outcome of these cases will decide whether someone lives or dies.
Appellate Courts and their Roles
States have appellate systems on a level structure. The middle levels are appeals from the trial courts. The highest, usually the Supreme Court, gets their appeals from the middle court. These are not automatic appeals for the most part. The appeal has to come from the defendant in petition form.
Appellate lawyers must be ready to file appeals and have the grounds well researched. There are several grounds for an appeal which may be:
2) Was the evidence sufficient to support the guilty verdict? If not, this is grounds for an appeal.
3) The judge may have made a mistake when telling something in his charge to the jury. This is another reason for an appeal.
4) Juror misconduct is one more reason in the long list allocated to the grounds for appeal.
Although the attempt has not been made to favor death penalty cases over other less serious crimes, the person who is convicted and sentenced to death needs to have the best appellate lawyer possible.
This is a great challenge for the legal job of an appellate lawyer because if he feels he did not do his utmost, the person he is defending will die. It is not a matter of how many years he will spend in jail, but the fact that he will actually be put to death. The stress levels of this job are one challenge that is difficult to put aside at the end of the day. Death penalty work is probably one of the more difficult tasks a criminal lawyer could have.
Supreme Court Case - Kennedy vs. Louisiana
The U.S. Solicitor General and the state of Louisiana have asked the Supreme Court to reopen a decision it handed down in the Kennedy vs. Louisiana case. The request comes as a federal law from 2006 on the death penalty for child rape. The Supreme Court was informed that the Solicitor General and the state of Louisiana were unaware of the law, which is a military law. Although they have conceded that it was their error, they feel the Supreme Court should re-open their decision and take the law into account.
If this happens it may set a new precedence for the death penalty appeals. Whether the Supreme Court will re-open the decision or not is anybody’s guess. Whatever way it goes will not help Jose Ernesto Medellin, who died from a lethal injection in a Huntsville, Texas prison Tuesday night. Medellin was a Mexican national who was convicted and sentenced to death for the part he played in the rape and murder of two teenage girls over 15 year ago.
Regardless of the outcome it will be a lesson to the defense that no stone should be left unturned when it comes to researching any and all laws that could have an impact on the case they are trying. On the other hand, humans make mistakes because they are not perfect. So where are the boundaries for this type of mistake going to be set? Their legal job is to defend to the best of their capabilities.
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