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Death Penalty Case Reveals Failings in Alabama

By standdown

That's the title of Adam Liptak's latest Sidebar column for the New York Times.  LINKKenneth B. Trotter had been practicing law for less than a year when an Alabama judge appointed him to assist two more seasoned lawyers in defending Holly Wood, who was facing the death penalty.After Mr. Wood was convicted in 1994 of murdering his former girlfriend, Mr. Trotter led the effort to persuade the jury to spare his life. The young lawyer came up just short: the jury recommended death by a vote of 10-to-2, the minimum allowed under Alabama law.Mr. Trotter failed to pursue or present evidence that his client was mentally retarded, though he had a competency report in hand that said as much. In September, a divided three-judge panel of the federal appeals court in Atlanta ruled that he had made a strategic decision, not a grave error...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on June 08, 2009 (boomark / email).