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Looking at a case in which SCOTUS will look at Alabama's death penalty

By Douglas A. Berman

This week's installment of Adam Liptak's Sidebar column in the New York Times is headlined "Death Penalty Case Reveals Failings," and it examines a capital case from Alabama now before  the Supreme Court.  Here are excerpts: Kenneth 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 a man facing the death penalty.  After the man, Holly 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...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on June 08, 2009 (boomark / email).