Publications & Testimony

In addition to the main brief submitted by the Petitioner in Baze v. Rees, several amicus curiae briefs have been filed in support of the inmates from Kentucky who are challenging the constitutionality of lethal injections as practiced in their state before the U.S. Supreme Court. The case is likely to be heard in January 2008 and decided by June. It appears that executions around the country have been put on hold pending the Court’s decision. The amicus (“friend of the court”) briefs…

Superior Court Judge Robert Ervin ruled that North Carolina death row inmate Glen Edward Chapman is entitled to a new trial based on ample evidence that he was wrongly convicted. Judge Ervin said that law enforcement officials withheld evidence, used false testimony, and misplaced or destroyed important documents that could have supported Chapman’s innocence claim. The judge’s order also revealed that Chapman’s defense attorneys did not adequately represent him during his trial, and that expert…

New Jersey Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts, Jr. (pictured) has announced that on December 13 members of the Assembly will vote on whether to reduce the state’s most severe punishment to life in prison without parole. A spokeswoman for Senate President Richard J. Codey said the Senate is likely to take similar action before the legislative session ends on January 8, though a date has not been set for the vote. If approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jon Corzine, who opposes the death…

In a forthcoming article in the American Journal of Criminal Law, John H. Blume of Cornell Law School explores recent Supreme Court decisions that affect the guidelines for effective counsel for capital defendants. Blume notes in “It’s Like Déjà Vu All Over Again: Williams V. Taylor, Wiggins V. Smith, Rompilla V. Beard and a (Partial) Return to the Guidelines Approach to the Effective Assistance of Counsel” that despite the recognition by researchers, litigators, and judges of the problem of…

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case in which it will decide how appellate courts are to evaluate claims of ineffective assistance of counsel in plea negotiations. The case, Arave v. Hoffman (07 – 110), is the latest effort by the Justices to decide whether mistakes made by a defense lawyer warrant overturning a criminal’s conviction or sentence. The appeal stems from a Idaho 1987 murder committed by Max Hoffman and two other men. Five weeks before his trial, prosecutors offered…

With recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions underscoring the importance of defense counsel performance during capital trials, judges across the nation are struggling to balance the high costs of capital cases with the need for adequate representation. In Georgia, Judge Hilton M. Fuller Jr. has delayed the trial of Brian Nichols because the state public defender system has no money to pay for his attorneys and other expenses associated with his defense. Fuller said that it is pointless to proceed…

Superior Court Judge Lynn O’Malley Taylor held that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation failed to follow proper procedure for instituting new regulations when it issued new lethal injection protocols in May. Under state law, an agency that adopts new regulations must first publish the text, invite public comments, hold a hearing if a member of the public requests one, and submit the final draft to the Office of Administrative Law, which decides whether the proposed rule…

As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to consider the constitutionality of Kentucky’s lethal injection procedures, prosecutors in three Texas counties have decided to await the Justices’ ruling rather than ask judges to set execution dates and press forward through the courts. “It seems the common-sense thing to do at this point,” said Roe Wilson, who handles death penalty appeals for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in Houston. Harris County sends more inmates to death row than any…

The most recent edition of The Angolite, the nation’s largest prison news magazine, contains an article detailing national death penalty trends and developments. The piece also highlights the impact of capital punishment on family members and close friends of those facing execution. It notes, “Lost in the shadows of these central arguments is something that defines us human beings: Taking care of our own. Unseen, unheard family members and close friends of those on death row have committed no…