News & Developments
Clemency
Jul 26, 2024
Analysis: Why Executive Officials Grant Clemency
In a new analysis, the Death Penalty Information Center has found that executive officials most often cite disproportionate sentencing, possible innocence, and mitigation factors such as intellectual disability or mental illness as reasons to grant clemency in capital cases. Ineffective defense lawyering and official misconduct are also common factors in clemency grants. While present in fewer cases, support for clemency from the victim’s family or a decisionmaker in the original trial, such…
Read MoreRace
Jul 24, 2024
New Study Finds Evidence of Racial Bias in California Death Sentences As Resentencings Begin in Cases Tainted by Discriminatory Jury Selection
As Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price seeks to remedy her office’s history of discriminatory jury selection, an study published in the 2024 Journal of Empirical Legal Studies by Catherine M. Grosso, Jeffrey Fagan, and Michael Laurence finds empirical evidence that the race of the defendant and the race of the victim affect the likelihood of a death sentence being imposed in…
Read MoreIntellectual Disability
Jul 23, 2024
Disability Pride Month Series: Daryl Atkins, Death-Sentenced Prisoner Whose Case Resulted in New Legal Protections for People with Intellectual Disability
This July, in honor of Disability Pride Month, the Death Penalty Information Center is posting a weekly feature highlighting issues related to the death penalty and disability and profiles of individuals who have played key roles in changing the laws to protect prisoners with…
Read MoreInnocence
Jul 22, 2024
Missouri Attorney General Opposes Opportunity for Marcellus Williams to Establish His Innocence Before Execution Date
On July 18, 2024, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey asked the state Supreme Court to block a scheduled evidentiary hearing for Marcellus Williams and deny him the opportunity to establish his innocence before his scheduled execution on September 24, 2024. The Circuit Court of St. Louis County scheduled the August 21st hearing to assess the “clear and convincing” evidence of Mr. Williams’ actual innocence that prompted St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell to file a motion to vacate…
Read MoreProsecutorial Accountability
Jul 19, 2024
New Filings Allege Georgia Prosecutor Withheld Critical Evidence of Plea Deal with Co-Defendant from Warren King
Attorneys for Warren King (pictured), who was convicted and sentenced to death in Georgia in 1998 for the murder of a convenience store clerk, have uncovered evidence that shows the prosecutor, John B. Johnson, withheld critical evidence from Mr. King’s defense team at the time of trial. A new court filing indicates that ADA Johnson failed to disclose a plea deal reached with Mr. King’s co-defendant, Walter Smith, the only eyewitness to the crime. Both Mr. King and Mr. Smith were charged with…
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