Assume that you are serving on a jury that has convicted Dan of murdering his wife, a capital crime. Identify the three questions that the judge will ask the jury to determine whether Dan will receive the death penalty. Describe a scenario in which he will be sentenced to death and a scenario in which he will not receive the death penalty.
What will be an ideal response?
The ideal answer should include:
1. The judge will ask the jury to answer three questions:
(1) Was the defendant's conduct that caused the death of the victim committed deliberately and with the reasonable expectation that the victim's death would ensue?
(2) Is it probable that the defendant would commit additional criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society?
(3) Is there anything in the circumstances of the offense and the defendant's character and background that would warrant a sentence of life imprisonment rather than the death sentence?
2. If the jury's answers are yes/yes/no, the sentence is death. If the answers are anything but yes/yes/no, the sentence is life without the possibility of parole.
You might also like to view...
What Burgess calls the zone in transition
a. is composed mostly of single unit housing. b. includes a large number of upscale districts. c. consists primarily of light manufacture factories and ethnic neighborhoods. d. is located within a thirty- to sixty-minute ride of the central business district.
A weakness of the mixed methods approach is that
a. divergent aspects of a phenomenon cannot be studied. b. it can be difficult to connect theory to practice. c. it is an old methodology with few people using it. d. because expertise is needed to two areas it can be difficult to find people qualified to perform both types research.