News and Developments: Arbitrariness

Louisiana Must Pay $14 Million to Man Exonerated From Death Row

Posted: December 23, 2008
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a $14 million award to John Thompson, a former death row inmate in Louisiana who was exonerated after withheld evidence was revealed.  Thompson spent 18 years in prison, including 14 years in the solitary confinement of death row in Angola Prison.  He came within one month of being executed in 1999 when his attorneys discovered blood evidence that should have been turned over to the defense years ago.  The new evidence cleared Thompson of an armed robbery conviction, which in turn had influenced his trial for an unrelated murder.  At his re-trial on the capital murder charge, Thompson was acquitted in thirty-five minutes by a jury in 2003.  Thompson sued the District Attorney's Office of Orleans Parish in 2003 and won a jury verdict in 2007.  The jury also awarded $1 million for attorneys' fees.

NEW VOICES: Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Says Death Penalty Unconstitutional

Posted: December 17, 2008
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The Presiding Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, Oliver Diaz, dissented in a recent capital case, Doss v. Mississippi, stating he had come to the conclusion that the death penalty is unconstitutional:

[A]ll that remains to justify our system of capital punishment is the quest for revenge, and I cannot find, as a matter of law, that the thirst for vengeance is a legitimate state interest.  Even if it is, capital punishment’s benefit over life imprisonment in society’s quest for revenge is so minimal that it cannot possibly justify the burden that it imposes in outright heinousness. The death penalty is, therefore, reduced to “the pointless and needless extinction of life with only marginal contributions to any discernible social or public purposes. A penalty with such negligible returns to the State [is] patently excessive and cruel and unusual punishment violative of the Eighth Amendment.” (quoting Justice White in Furman v. Georgia).

Expensive Death Penalty Prosecution of Infamous Murderer Results in Life-Without-Parole Sentence in Georgia

Posted: December 15, 2008
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Brian Nichols was sentenced to life in prison without parole in Georgia on December 13 after the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict of death.  Nichols had been found guilty of killing a judge, a court reporter, a police deputy, and a U.S. Customs agent during his escape from a courthouse hearing on other charges.  The jury remained deadlocked in a 9-3 vote after four days of deliberations. A unanimous vote is required for a death sentence, just as it is for a guilty verdict.  The jury did find the existence of 11 aggravating factors against Nichols.

Federal Appeals Court Considers Sufficiency of Evidence in Troy Davis Case

Posted: December 10, 2008
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A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta heard arguments in the Troy Davis case on December 9.  The judges weighed whether Davis' new evidence was sufficient to merit a more extensive hearing and perhaps a new trial.  One of the judges, Rosemary Barkett, said she would like to see the innocence claims fleshed out in a further hearing.

Judge Barkett expressed her frustration with the fact that none of the eyewitnesses were shown another primary suspect’s photo or presented with a lineup with him in it.  Barkett also speculated that Savannah police faced so much pressure to quickly solve the high profile murder that they did not focus enough on the other primary suspect.  While acknowledging the possibility of executing an innocent person, Barkett added, “It’s also possible the real guilty person who shot [the victim] Officer MacPhail is not being prosecuted.” 

The Court did not indicate when it would issue a ruling and at the close of the hearing, Judge Dubina called the appeal a “very difficult case.”  Judge Marcus called the case “murky,” without the availability of DNA evidence that could categorically clear Davis. The high profile case has garnered attention as seven of the nine eyewitnesses in the case have recanted their original testimony.

Washington State's Death Penalty Part of a Broken System

Posted: December 01, 2008
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The state of Washington has carried out 4 executions in 45 years, the last one being in 2001 when James Elledge waived his appeals and was executed. Some prosecutors, legislators, and defense attorneys are questioning the value of keeping the system. Kitsap County Prosecutor Russell Hauge (pictured) supports the death penalty but has decided against seeking it in a recent case because he felt the appeals process would simply never end. “In terms of justice, the worst thing that could have happened in that case is the death penalty,” explained Hauge. “It would’ve started another cycle and perhaps 20 more years of appeals, forcing the victim’s family to keep revisiting this tragedy.”

Hauge pursued the death penalty only once and the jury returned a split verdict resulting in a sentence of life in prison. Because Washington death penalty cases take so long, Hauge said, “You’re not going to see any expansion of [the death penalty].” In regard to the appeals process, he said, “I think we’re going to continue to live like this,” as the courts try to ensure they do not make a deadly mistake.

Florida Inmate Facing Imminent Execution Despite Evidence of Witness Tampering by Prosecution

Posted: November 11, 2008
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A Florida inmate faces execution despite new revelations that the state prompted a trial witness to lie. Inmate Wayne Tompkins was to be executed in Florida on October 28, 2008, but was granted a stay of execution to allow time for the state Supreme Court to review his case. On November 7, the court denied Tompkins' appeal, even though the court acknowledged that a state witness, a jailhouse informant, admitted to providing false testimony at Tompkins' original trial in 1985.

Justice Harry Anstead dissented from the court's ruling, noting that jailhouse informants are often unreliable, and in this case the informant was apparently prompted to lie.  He wrote, "Indeed, if the claim is true, we have a state prosecutor who committed a criminal act in tampering with a witness. Surely, common sense would tell us this is the kind of 'bombshell' disclosure that could change the jury's entire evaluation of the case." Tompkins' attorney Martin McClain cited numerous concerns about the state's case. "This is one of the most troubling cases that I have," he said. "The evidence against Mr. Tompkins is just absurd."  Tompkins' stay of execution expires on Nov. 18.