Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Joshua Robinson
Ms. Oberg
English 11
11/5/15
There are many views on the practice of capital punishments, these views cause much
debate on things such as whether or not it is ethical and if it is fair. Many people note that the
current capital punishment system is very flawed and regardless of ones views on the subject,
there are problems arising from the current system. Paroblems within the capital punishment
system vary from things such as ethnic biases to its effects on the economy. A large problem
with the death penalty is that it misrepresents some while favoring others. Many of those
convicted were not given proper representation and were later found to be innocent.The use of
capital punishment is bias towards those with low economic class and those of colored ethnicities
which would give reason for misrepresentation. Some will claim that almost all of those on trial
for death row are given chances for equal representation, but for reasons such as bias of courts
In trials where the accused were on trial for the death penalty and were found guilty, later
were found to be innocent. This would only happen because of misrepresentation. A good
misrepresentation via racial bias. Larrys case only had one white witness, a white man named
Robert Fitzgerald. The case had no linking DNA evidence. According to the judge, Mr.
Fitzgerald had: a seriously flawed background, and his ability to observe and identify the
gunman was also subject to question." This shows that Larry Griffin being African American,
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and the only witness being a white man, was not given proper representation despite having
inadequate evidence towards his guilt. The court made no attempt to prove his innocence despite
many thinking that Robert Fitzgerald was not a reliable source. The factor that went into
discarding Fitzgeralds testimony was that he had been facing felony charges at the time.
Because of this, many questioned the validity of his testimony. This is a prime example of the
defense getting poor representation because of possible racial bias. The white eyewitness
received more representation than the defendant despite the witness having little validity or
substantial evidence.
A large problem with representation has a lot to do with money issues among the
defendant. The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCAB) wrote in its fact sheet
Death Penalty Overview: Ten Reasons Why Capital Punishment is Flawed Public Policy:
There have even been instances in which lawyers appointed to a death case were so
inexperienced that they were completely unprepared for the sentencing phase of the trial. Other
appointed attorneys have slept through parts of the trial, or arrived at the court under the
influence of alcohol. This shows that many of the cases are very poor representations due to the
lack of strong defense lawyers. Most of the accused persons are unable to pay and are receiving
these lawyers. This causes the cases to be extremely unfair to most of the accused because they
are unable to afford their own lawyers and are given inadequate lawyers. Since this makes up
In capital cases ,the accused has The Right to Adequate Representation. The defendant,
whether or not they can afford a lawyer of their own, can receive an appointed lawyer. With the
Right to Adequate Representation, the lawyer must reach a certain standard level of
representation or the the case is void. The case can be voided because of the Sixth Amendments
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right to fair trial. This is an issue in capital punishment, the accused are increasingly getting
representation. He claims that his counsel failed to investigate that someone other than Porter
was the murderer, the counsel didnt call a defense witness, didnt properly justify his
whereabouts during the murder, and failed to meet up with him except before and after trials. He
received bad representation due to the fact his counsel made no effort to plan with him for the
trial. He claimed they were winging it. His claims were rejected and he lost the case. Porter
also claimed that his attorney ceased investigation when he was unable to pay the money they
agreed on. This shows that he, being unable to pay his attorney, got misrepresentated. He was
Works Cited:
Zernike, Kate. "Executed Man May Be Cleared in New Inquiry." Executed Man May Be Cleared in
New Inquiry. New York Times, 19 July 2005. Sat. 7 Nov. 2015.
"Is Poor Representation by Public Defense Attorneys a Widespread Problem in Capital Cases? -