Death Penalty (cont’d.)
Whenever a person is adjudicated guilty of a capitol felony, a separate proceeding is conducted to determine of the defendant should be sentenced to death or receive life in prison. Criminal defense lawyers refer to this stage of a case as the “penalty phase.” The portion of the case that addresses whether or not the defendant is guilty of trafficking in cocaine is called the “evidentiary phase.”
As a rule of thumb, whenever a criminal defense lawyer represents someone facing the death penalty, building a case for life starts from the day one of the representation. This will include work that not only addresses the evidentiary issues in the case, but any factors concerning the defendant’s life that may act as mitigating factors.
For this reason, a criminal defense lawyer working on a death penalty case must thoroughly research his clients background for as long as he/she has been living. For example, it is necessary to obtain all school records going back as far as possible.
Any source of information about the defendant that may give the judge even one more reason to impose life over death is extremely important to find.
During the penalty phase of a case, the jury that heard the evidence during trial and which rendered a guilty verdict, is the same jury that will decide whether or not to recommend the death penalty to the judge, with some exceptions. This recommendation is referred to as an “advisory sentence.” However, it should be noted that the decision to impose life or death lies strictly with the trial judge.
Before an advisory sentence is recommended to the judge, the jury will hear evidence and argument presented by both the prosecutor and the defense. During the penalty phase, evidence may be presented as to any matter that the court deems relevant to the nature of the crime and the character of the defendant and shall include matters relating to any of the aggravating or mitigating circumstances.
Any evidence that the judge determines to have a probative value may be presented to the jury, regardless of its admissibility under the exclusionary rules of evidence, so long as the defendant is given a fair chance to rebut any hearsay statements. However, any evidence secured in violation of the U.S. Constitution or the Constitution of the State of Florida would remain inadmissible.
After the jury has heard all of the evidence, they will retire and deliberate the following three factors: 1) whether or not sufficient aggravating circumstances exist, 2) whether or not sufficient mitigating circumstances exist which outweigh the aggravating circumstances, and 3) based on the considerations in 1 and 2, whether or not they should recommend a sentence of life in prison or the death penalty to the judge.