NCJ Number
189038
Journal
ABA Journal Volume: 87 Dated: May 2001 Pages: 38-45
Date Published
May 2001
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article focuses on the use of prosecutorial discretion in decisions regarding which defendants prosecutors will select for the death penalty, with attention to an Arizona case that involved multiple conspirators as well as the killer in a murder case.
Abstract
The Imel case in the jurisdiction of Pima County, Arizona was prosecuted as a murder-for-hire instigated by the victim's ex-wife, who hired a mentally handicapped man to do the killing for $500. When the victim appeared at his ex-wife's front door, the killer first splashed pool acid in the victim's face while the ex-wife slammed the door to prevent the victim's retreat from the attack. The killer then stabbed him numerous times and then crushed his skull with a rock as he lay bleeding on the ground. The ex-wife's daughter from a previous marriage as well as the daughter's boyfriend were also implicated in the conspiracy to do the murder. The prosecutor's office decided to seek the death penalty only for the ex-wife, in order to gain the cooperation of the killer as a witness against her. The killer pled guilty in exchange for a life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 25 years. A mistrial was declared for the ex-wife when the jury deadlocked at 11-1 in favor of guilty. The prosecutors are retrying the case as a death-penalty case. In discussing the use of prosecutorial discretion in this case and other cases, this article discusses how prosecutors work under death penalty statutes to exercise their discretion in determining which defendants will be selected for the death penalty in murder cases and which murder defendants will warrant life imprisonment with or without the possibility of parole.