Effigy: Images of Capital Defendants
-- By
Allison Cotton
Effigy examines the images of a capital
defendant portrayed, by the defense attorneys
and the prosecutor, during the guilt and
penalty phases of capital trial, the trial
tactics used to impart these images, and
the consequences that result from the jury's
attempt to reconcile contradictory images
to place one in permanent record as a verdict.
These images are starkly contrasted against
the backdrop of a brutal murder in which
the stereotypes of American fear are realized:
Donta
Page, the defendant, is an African-American
male from a low-income segment of society
while Peyton Tuthill, the victim, was a Caucasian
female from a middle-income suburb.
The prosecuting
attorneys depict the defendant as a "savage
beast," juxtaposing their image against
that of a "troubled youth" as Page
is portrayed by the defense attorneys. Slowly
and methodically developed as figures with
diametrically opposed features, none of which
overlap or congeal, both the images are portrayed
as real (buttressed by the testimony of witnesses)
rather than constructed. The jury is expected
to render a verdict that accepts one and
rejects the other: there is no middle ground.
Allison M. Cotton is Assistant Professor
of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the
Metropolitan State College of Denver. She is
also a CADP member, and spoke at CADP's
March 2009 Solidarity Sunday.
Table
of Contents
- Introduction
- The Death
Penalty in the U.S. and How Juries Operate
- The
Importance of Defining the Defendant
- The
Legal Fight
- The Guilt Phase: How the
Defense/Prosecution Saw their Mission
- The
Penalty Phase: The Prosecution/Defense's
Mission
- Who Is the Defendant? The
Prosecution's/Defense's Answer
- The
Impact on Jurors
- Conclusion
Lexington
Books • $70.00 • Cloth • 0-7391-2551-6
| 978-0-7391-2551-9 • July 2008 • 230
pages
To order at a discount from Amazon.com,
click: Effigy:
Images of Capital Defendants (Issues in Crime & Justice)
You can also visit www.rowmanlittlefield.com or
call 1-800-462-6420 to order.
