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Eligible for Execution: The Story of the Daryl Atkins Case. By Thomas G. Walker. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press/ SAGE. Pp. 261. $26.95 paper.
In the world of criminal justice, modern death penalty trials and appeals are notoriously complex. As such, most general descriptions of the processes are poor facsimiles by their nature (epitomized by the one I attempt below). Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 in the United States, some of the brightest minds in the law have spent countless hours interpreting, condemning, defending, and revising the system's many facets. The result is a unique process designed to limit the ultimate punishment to only the most deserving.
Unlike everyday criminal trials, modern death penalty trials are bifurcated: If a defendant is found guilty of a capital murder in the sort of trial we are all familiar with, and if the prosecution is seeking the death penalty, a second trial is held to determine the punishment. In this second trial, or penalty phase, the jury hears evidence in order to determine whether the offender deserves the death penalty. It is very unusual for juries to decide criminal sentences; for the most part, judges sentence offenders based on state and federal sentencing guidelines. In a capital penalty trial, however, the prosecution presents aggravating factors, such as prior crimes, that they think will convince the jury to vote for death,...