The Common Sense Foundation of North Carolina released a study on October 11, 2006 that found that at least 37 peo­ple now on death row had tri­al lawyers who would not have met today’s min­i­mum stan­dards of qual­i­fi­ca­tion. Nearly a third of the cas­es where suf­fi­cient data was avail­able fell into this substandard category.

The study also lists the names of 16 peo­ple who have been exe­cut­ed whose tri­al lawyers did not meet these same stan­dards. Over half of the exe­cu­tions in the state where data was avail­able were of defen­dants whose attor­neys would not meet the cur­rent state stan­dards.

The study not­ed that after the state leg­is­la­ture cre­at­ed the Office of Indigent Defense Services (IDS) in 2001 requir­ing that appoint­ed cap­i­tal defense attor­neys have some expe­ri­ence and knowl­edge of cap­i­tal defense, the num­ber of N.C. death sen­tences declined sharply. However, the new rules do not apply to those who have already been sen­tenced to death.

(Death Row Injustices, Common Sense Foundation, October 2006). See Representation and Studies.

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