ABSTRACT
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 4 Two General Types of Errors ................................................................................ 5 Why Errors Occur in Capital Cases .................................................................... 6
Shoddy Investigation and Misconduct by the Police ............................... 6 Eyewitness Misidentification and Perjury by Prosecution Witnesses.... 7 False Confessions .......................................................................................... 8 Guilty Pleas by Innocent Defendants ........................................................ 8 Prosecutor Misconduct ................................................................................ 8 Judicial Misconduct or Error .................................................................... 10 Bad Defense Lawyers.................................................................................. 10 Jury Problems .............................................................................................. 12 The Illusive Hope of Clemency ................................................................. 13
An Inventory of Possible Remedies ....................................................................14 Good Attorneys Can Make a Difference ..................................................14 Punish the Misconduct of Defense Attorneys ........................................ 15 Improve Police Investigations, Interrogations, and the
Handling of Evidence ................................................................... 15 Improve Eyewitness Identification Techniques and Procedures ..........16 Improve the Work and Credibility of Crime Lab Technicians .............16 Require DNA Testing ................................................................................. 17 Set Rigorous Standards for Jailhouse Snitches or Informants ............. 17 Improve Police Training .............................................................................18 Punish Police Misconduct ..........................................................................18 Guide Prosecutors’ Decisions to Seek the Death Penalty ......................18 Improve Disclosure Requirements ............................................................18 Punish Prosecutor Misconduct ................................................................ 19 Better Training and Certification of Trial Judges in Capital Cases .... 19 Give Trial Judges Veto Power .................................................................... 19 Eliminate Time Limits and Other Constraints on Claims of
Actual Innocence........................................................................... 19 Improve the Clemency Process ................................................................ 20 Increase the Resources and Scope of Innocence Projects ..................... 20 Collect Relevant Data ................................................................................. 20
Establish Innocence Commissions .......................................................... 20 Assistance and Indemnity ......................................................................... 21 Moratorium ................................................................................................. 21
Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 22 Notes ...................................................................................................................... 23 References .............................................................................................................. 24 Cases Cited ............................................................................................................ 27
When assessing the administration of capital punishment in the United States, it is helpful to distinguish between how the death penalty might be administered ideally, and the way it is administered in practice. To support the death penalty is to support actual practice and not some unobtainable ideal. It is noteworthy, in this regard, that much of the Supreme Court’s workload during the last three decades has been devoted to refining capital punishment procedures: to making the process work “right.” The record of that effort clearly shows that the death penalty in the United States remains very much a work in progress.
