After the jury found federal life prisoner Jessie Con-Ui guilty of murdering correctional officer Eric Williams, it had two choices on punishment: (1) death, or (2) effectively no punishment at all, as a second life sentence means nothing.
Eleven jurors sensibly chose the only meaningful punishment but one refused. The result? Under the federal system's single-juror veto rule, the decision of the one effectively prevails over the decision of the eleven, and Con-Ui got a second, meaningless life sentence.
In how many states does a jury deadlocked in the guilt phase at eleven for guilty and one for acquittal result in an acquittal and the defendant walking free? Zero. A single-juror veto in the guilt phase would be crazy, and everyone recognizes that. Why on earth does any jurisdiction conduct its penalty trials that way? Why not do it just like the guilt phase, where "unanimous" means unanimous one way or other, and a hung jury means you empanel another jury and retry the case?
Chelsea Strub has this report for WNEP on a press conference by Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey and Congressman Tom Marino. They are among the sponsors of "Eric's Law," a bill to fix this glaring deficiency in the federal capital sentencing law.
Eleven jurors sensibly chose the only meaningful punishment but one refused. The result? Under the federal system's single-juror veto rule, the decision of the one effectively prevails over the decision of the eleven, and Con-Ui got a second, meaningless life sentence.
In how many states does a jury deadlocked in the guilt phase at eleven for guilty and one for acquittal result in an acquittal and the defendant walking free? Zero. A single-juror veto in the guilt phase would be crazy, and everyone recognizes that. Why on earth does any jurisdiction conduct its penalty trials that way? Why not do it just like the guilt phase, where "unanimous" means unanimous one way or other, and a hung jury means you empanel another jury and retry the case?
Chelsea Strub has this report for WNEP on a press conference by Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey and Congressman Tom Marino. They are among the sponsors of "Eric's Law," a bill to fix this glaring deficiency in the federal capital sentencing law.
Does this matter much when there has not been a federal execution in nearly 15 years?
In an earlier post, I noted steps the executive branch can take under existing law to resume federal executions. The Obama Administration simply wasn't interested. In the first year and a few months of the Trump Administration, a combination of other events with priority and a large number of unfilled positions may explain the lack of interest. We don't even have a confirmed head of the criminal division yet. Hopefully the needed attention will be devoted to the matter later this year.
Trump and Sessions found time to prioritize seeking death sentences for drug dealer, so why not give some attention to those already condemned to die awaiting punishment on federal death row?
I agree.