Policy Issues
Representation
Defendants are much less likely to be sentenced to death when they are represented by qualified lawyers who are provided sufficient time and resources to present a strong defense.
Policy Issues
Defendants are much less likely to be sentenced to death when they are represented by qualified lawyers who are provided sufficient time and resources to present a strong defense.
Lawyers for the Condemned
American Bar Association's recommended standards for counsel in capital cases
The quality of representation a defendant receives in a capital case can make the difference between life and death. Almost all defendants cannot afford to pay for a lawyer, and states differ widely on the standards—if any—for death penalty representation. Accounts of lawyers sleeping or drinking alcohol during the trial, lawyers with racial bias toward their client, lawyers who conduct no investigation or fail to obtain necessary experts, or lawyers simply having no experience with capital cases have been rampant throughout the history of the death penalty.
The right to an attorney is a hallmark of the American judicial system. It is essential that the lawyer be experienced in capital cases, be adequately compensated, and have access to the resources needed to fulfill his or her obligations to the client and the court.
As abuses in the system have been exposed, most states have raised the standards for representation. However, most death-penalty states do not have statewide capital defense organizations, and many counties who are responsible for assigning and compensating lawyers have small budgets and cannot afford the kind of representation a capital case requires.
Despite the poor quality of representation in many capital cases, courts have often upheld the convictions and death sentences imposed because of low expectations and the belief that better representation would not have made a difference in the case. Where higher quality counsel and adequate resources have been provided, death sentences have declined dramatically.
DPIC has highlighted the key court decisions in this area, as well as the numerous instances in which the system has failed. A number of DPIC’s reports discuss the importance of quality representation. The standards for representation approved by the American Bar Association, along with the status of state compliance, are also available.
Jun 17, 2020
By a vote of 6 – 3, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) ruling upholding the death sentence imposed on Terence Andrus (pictured). The Court held that Andrus’ c…
Read MoreRepresentation
May 02, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court has heard argument in two death penalty cases that present highly technical legal issues that could profoundly affect the extent to which prisoners convicted in state courts will have meaningful access to fe…
Innocence
Apr 12, 2022
A Harrisburg, Pennsylvania trial court has granted the application of the Dauphin County District Attorney’s office to withdraw all charges against Samuel Randolph, IV, completing his exoneration of a double murde…
Innocence
Mar 17, 2022
A Pennsylvania trial court has granted a new trial to death-row prisoner Kevin Dowling (pictured), finding that prosecutors withheld evidence that would have shown he was 40 miles away when their sole eyewitness c…
News Brief
Mar 11, 2022
Marty McClain, a Florida capital defense lawyer who represented the state’s death-row prisoners for more than 30 years, died March 7, 2022 at the age of 67. McClain was a towering presence in Florida capital litig…
Mental Illness
Mar 03, 2022
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has affirmed a Nevada district court’s grant of a new trial to death-row prisoner Mark Rogers, blasting the state for providing him with inexperienced coun…
Innocence
Mar 02, 2022
Lawyers for Texas death-row prisoner Melissa Lucio (pictured) have moved to vacate her April 27, 2022 execution date and remove the judge and district attorney in her case because of conflicts of interest stemming…
Innocence
Feb 25, 2022
In the February 2022 episode of Discussions with DPIC, federal public defender, Amanda Bass (pictured, right), and Justice for Julius advocate Cece Jones-Davis (pictured, left) speak with Death Penalty In…
Arbitrariness
Feb 21, 2022
Calling capital punishment in the U.S. “broken,” 56 elected prosecutors from across the country have issued a joint statement urging systemic changes to end the death penalty nationwide. As an initial step, the prosecutors pledged to not seek the …
Capital Case Development
Feb 14, 2022
A federal district court has overturned the death sentence of an Alabama death-row prisoner whose abandonment by his state post-conviction counsel led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision on the right of access to federal habeas corpu…
Representation
Jan 05, 2022
A former conservative federal judge and U.S. Solicitor General has called on the United States Supreme Court to vacate a ruling by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) that allowed a Texas death sentence to …