Law Commons^™

Understanding Defense-Initiated Victim Outreach And Why It Is Essential In Defending A Capital Client, Mickell Branham, Richard Burr

Hofstra Law Review

This article appears in the Hofstra Law Review symposium issue on the Supplementary Guidelines for the Mitigation Function of Defense Teams in Death Penalty cases.

Effective capital defense lawyers must embrace, not suppress, human empathy. A defense team that demonstrates genuine compassion for the survivors - reaching out to get to know them, to listen to their stories, and to discern the interests the survivors hope to have met in the judicial proceedings - increases the possibility that the proceedings will end with compassion for their client. As a practical matter, this may well occur through some sort of agreed-upon …

The Indispensable Role Of The Mitigation Specialist In A Capital Case: A View From The Federal Bench, Helen G. Berrigan

Hofstra Law Review

This article appears in the Hofstra Law Review symposium issue on the Supplementary Guidelines for the Mitigation Function of Defense Teams in Death Penalty cases.

Writing from the perspective of a federal trial judge, the author, who is Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, describes the crucial importance of mitigation development in the trial of a capital case in accordance with the ABA's Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases reprinted in 31 Hofstra L. Rev. 913 (2003) and the Supplementary Guidelines that are the subject …

The Aba And The Supplementary Guidelines For The Mitigation Function Of Defense Teams In Death Penalty Cases, Robin M. Maher

Hofstra Law Review

This article appears in the Hofstra Law Review symposium issue on the Supplementary Guidelines for the Mitigation Function of Defense Teams in Death Penalty cases.

This article, whose author is the Director of the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project, places the Supplementary Guidelines in the context of the ABA's work in the death penalty field. The ABA does not oppose capital punishment but does favor justice. Hence the organization has long insisted that any jurisdiction desiring to retain execution as a criminal sanction provide high quality defense representation in accordance with the ABA's Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of …

Capital Guidelines And Ethical Duties: Mutually Reinforcing Responsibilities, Lawrence J. Fox

Hofstra Law Review

This article appears in the Hofstra Law Review symposium issue on the Supplementary Guidelines for the Mitigation Function of Defense Teams in Death Penalty cases.

It is counsel, and not any non-lawyer member of the multidisciplinary defense team which needs to be assembled to provide competent representation in a capital case, who bears ultimate responsibility for the team's performance and for decisions affecting the client and the case. This article describes the many respects in which counsel's specific obligations under both the ABA's Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases reprinted in 31 Hofstra …

Sentencing: Where Case Theory And The Client Meet, Kimberly A. Thomas

Articles

Criminal sentencing hearings provide unique opportunities for teaching and learning case theory. These hearings allow attorneys to develop a case theory in a context that both permits understanding of the concept and, at the same time, provides a window into the difficulties case theory can pose. Some features of sentencing hearings, such as relaxed rules of evidence and stock sentencing stories, provide a manageable application of case theory practice. Other features of sentencing hearings, such as the defendant's allocution, require an attorney to contend with competing "case theories," and as a result, to face the ethical and counseling challenge of …

Trial Tips: Structure In Direct Examination Wins Cases, J. Palmer Lockard Ii

J. Palmer Lockard II