NCJ Number
112774
Date Published
1987
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Reflections on the author's personal experiences as an expert witness in eight capital cases between 1984 and 1986 in California and Florida caution that an expert can bring the necessary research findings to court only to find the presentation falls on deaf ears.
Abstract
The discussion focuses on the penalty phase of California v. Maxwell in Los Angeles, July 24-26, 1984. The author's research clearly demonstrated that the chance of error, i.e., executing an individual later shown to be innocent, is not as infrequent as believed popularly and by proponents of the death penalty. As an expert witness, the author's job was to bring systematic data on wrongful convictions to bear on any doubts that the defense team suspected might reside in the jurors' minds. He describes working with defense attorneys on the testimony and his 6 hours on the witness stand. The jury voted that Maxwell should not be executed, but sentenced to life imprisonment. The paper argues that the Maxwell Case supports the contention that a public informed about the purposes and liabilities of the death penalty will find it unacceptable. Also discussed are experts' fees in capital punishment cases. 14 footnotes.