Archive for August 1, 2007
Blacks who kill whites are most likely to be executed
Aug 1st
Blacks convicted of killing whites are not only more likely than other killers to receive a death sentence – they are also more likely to actually be executed, a new study [OSU press release] suggests.
This apparently is the first study to examine whether the race of murder victims affects the probability that a convicted killer gets the ultimate punishment. The study was conducted by David Jacobs, professor of sociology at Ohio State University along with Zhenchao Qian, professor of sociology at Ohio State, Jason Carmichael of McGill University and Stephanie Kent of Cleveland State University. Their results appear in the August 2007 issue of the American Sociological Review.
The study examined outcomes of 1,560 people sentenced to death in 16 states from 1973 to 2002. These 16 states were chosen because they had the complete data that the researchers needed for the study.
Other research has shown that the great majority of those sentenced to death have their sentences overturned in appeal, Jacobs said. But little is known about the factors that lead some condemned prisons to be executed.
There is more than a two-fold greater risk that an African American who killed a white person will be executed than there is for a white person who killed a non-white victim.
The study also shows that blacks who kill non-whites are less likely to be executed than other death row inmates.
“The fact that blacks who kill non-whites actually are less likely to be executed than blacks who kill whites shows there is a strong racial bias here,” Jacobs said. “Blacks are most likely to pay the ultimate price when their victims are white.”
Hispanics who killed whites were also more likely to be executed than were whites who killed non-whites, the study showed. But the risk of execution were not as strong for Hispanics who killed whites as they were for blacks who killed whites.
Here is a Newsweek interview with Jacobs and here is a 1998 study by the DPIC chronicling the racial disparity in seeking the death penalty.
I’m going to keep looking for the study itself. If someone has a link to it, please post it in the comments here.
Appellate Court ARO 8/1/07
Aug 1st
There were two criminal advance release opinions today: State v. Blango and State v. Klinger [both pdf]. Blango has one interesting issue: Whether the trial court improperly admitted uncharged misconduct evidence as corroboration for the victim’s testimony. The short answer: yes.
The defendant committed a crime using a handgun. The victim described it as silver with a dark or brown handle. The defendant testified that he did not use a weapon. A few weeks later, the defendant was involved in two more offenses where he used a silver and black handgun and a silver or chrome plated gun. The State sought to introduce this testimony and the Appellate Court agreed that it was okay, especially because the trial judge gave a limiting instruction.
Edit: Oh yeah, umm… what the hell is prosecutorial impropriety? How is misconduct not appropriate? [It was another claim raised in Blango, which was boring, so I chose not to paraphrase it.] Anyway, back to the original post.
In Klinger, the defendant, pro-se, appealed from the denial of a Motion to Modify Conditions of Probation on the grounds that he had not agreed to the specific conditions of probation imposed upon him, that the court had not advised him of these conditions and that he should not be ordered to pay restitution to an entity that was not a victim in the crimes he pled guilty to. The court rejected the first two on the grounds that they were not preserved or inadequately briefed. The third claim got rejected.
So, nothing too exciting.
More on Cheshire killings
Aug 1st
The transcript of the younger of the two accused in the Cheshire killings has been released. Read it for yourself [pdf] and decide if this would have made any difference to parole’s decision. While Republicans are calling for immediate action, State Democrats seem to be suggesting that any steps should wait for the next legislative session, so they can be thought out and measured.
Lawlor, a Democrat from East Haven who will help lead that inquiry as a judiciary co-chairman, said many of the legislative proposals raised in recent days would not necessarily have stopped the attack. But Lawlor agrees with Rell in reclassifying some burglaries as violent crimes.
House Speaker Jim Amann said that lawmakers are preparing for hearings on the system’s shortcomings, how to improve communication and possibly stiffening penalties for those who commit nighttime burglaries.
Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane had this to say:
Prosecutors now will make sure parole officials not only have sentencing transcripts, but presentence investigations and relevant police reports.
Kane said prosecutors had not routinely sent the transcripts for several reasons. A backlog in obtaining trial transcripts had delayed the appeals process, and sentencing transcripts rarely offered valuable insights to parole officials, he said.
Most sentencings resulting from plea agreements – the manner in which most criminal cases are resolved – are pro forma proceedings, he said.
“So getting a sentencing transcript in many cases would not be helpful,” Kane said.
Norm Pattis at C&F has re-emerged and is blogging up a storm about it. CTLP also has more.
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