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A Deadly Dilemma: Choices By Attorneys Representing "Innocent" Capital Defendants, Welsh S. White
A Deadly Dilemma: Choices By Attorneys Representing "Innocent" Capital Defendants, Welsh S. White
Michigan Law Review
A lawyer who represents a capital defendant with a strong innocence claim must allocate her resources between the separate guilt and penalty phases of the capital case. Expending resources in preparation for a penalty trial may result in less attention to securing the acquittal on the capital charge at the guilt trial that would make the penalty phase moot. But focusing primarily on proving the defendant's innocence at the guilt trial means less preparation in the case of a guilty verdict. Once a defendant is convicted of a capital offense, a lawyer must also make strategic decisions about the penalty …