NCJ Number
101288
Journal
Annual Survey of American Law Issue: 1 Dated: (1983) Pages: 71-115
Date Published
1983
Length
45 pages
Annotation
This article reviews U.S. Supreme Court decisions bearing on defendants' sixth amendment rights in capital cases.
Abstract
Under this amendment, defendants are guaranteed the right of compulsory process for obtaining favorable witnesses, the right to an impartial jury, and the right to conflict-free counsel. While acknowledging the existence of these rights, the Court, through a narrow reading of precedents, set standards that significantly diminished the constitutional protections afforded defendants by requiring them to meet an onerous burden of proof by showing that the violations had substantially prejudiced their cause. At the same time, because of the finality of capital punishment, the court restricted the bounds of death sentencing. In Edmund v. Florida, the Court held that capital punishment is unconstitutional for accomplice liability in felony murder without some showing that the cofelon committed the murder, attempted to do so, or had the requisite intent to kill. In Eddings v. Oklahoma, the Court held that the death penalty was constitutional only if the sentencer is free to consider all relevant mitigating evidence. Finally, in Zant v. Stephens and several subsequent cases, the Court held that facially valid death penalty statutes are vulnerable to challenge. Implicit in the Court's decision is that whenever the application of a valid statute is challenged, an independent review is required to determine the arbitrariness of the process as it affected the particular defendant. 337 footnotes.