...or did some actually have enough money to afford their own lawyer/attorney? I am doing a research paper for school so I ask that any answers have a source attached where they found the answer. My topic is that the rich are favored over the poor in capital punishment cases. PLEASE ANSWER ITS DUE TOMORROW AHHHHH!!!
Susan S
One thing is clear. The death penalty is not reserved for people who commit the worst crimes. It is reserved for people with the worst lawyers. When is the last time a wealthy person was executed or sentenced to death? The answer to that is not in over 100 years.
As far as lawyers of people sentenced to death- Studies have shown that in the majority of cases in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Virginiania- lawyers did little or nothing to defend their clients at the critical stage where juries are weighing life and death. The attorneys often missed unspeakable abuse, abject poverty, and profound mental disabilities in their clients' backgrounds. All of these can be factors that juries cite as the basis for a life sentence. Courts refused to overturn sentences on the basis of bad lawyering.
(North Carolina News & Observer, January 20, 2007).
In most cases where the death penalty is sought, the defendent is assigned a court appointed attorney. Ron Mock, the notoriously incompetent Texas attorney, "defended" Frances Newton, Gary Graham, and at least 10 others who were executed. You can read about Mock and other incompetent court appointed attorneys at the website of the Death Penalty Information Center, www.deathpenaltyinfo.org, especially at
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=45&did=544#sxn3
You might also write about the expensive representation that OJ Simpson had or that Robert Blake could afford.
Orignal From: Tips: Were those sentenced to death [and/or executed] all using state-appointed lawyers/attorneys?
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