LAW 342 - Life or Death: A Prosecutor’s Decision-Making Process in a Capital Case

A Prosecutor’s Decision-Making Process in a Capital Case. Students will learn how a major state attorney’s office handled death penalty eligible cases from the initial crime scene visit through the conclusion of the case. The course focuses on a specific case, the 2009 Thanksgiving Day murders of four family members in Jupiter, Florida, to examine how the charging decisions were made, including the relevant legal criteria and other non-legal influences. One of the exercises will involve having students conduct a mock capital case review committee meeting in a first-degree homicide. The course will identify the type and nature of cases that qualify for death penalty consideration. We explore factors that influence the decision to charge and/or resolve a capital case (including community pressures, views of victims’ family members, and police/investigator influences). We will note the differences with regard to the death penalty in the various state systems and the federal system. The class includes a case study of the recent very public (and legal) conflict that occurred between then Florida Governor Rick Scott and State Attorney Aramis Ayala (Ninth Judicial Circuit in Florida). The dispute stemmed from SA Ayala’s announcement after she took office that she would not seek the death penalty in any of her office’s cases. We also will engage in a discussion of the federal death penalty prosecution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh to highlight the federal capital case process. The course also surveys the current state of the law regarding the death penalty in the United States. The discussion will include the evolving law relating to jury decision-making in capital cases using recent US Supreme Court cases. This course component will use a more traditional case analysis teaching method. Finally, the course delves into possible reforms of the death penalty decision-making process.