The Importance of Death Penalty Mitigation
"What do you do exactly?" is a question
my friends and family members often ask me. By
the
time I finish trying to explain what I do they
have that, "I just asked you what time
it was and you're telling me how to build a
clock" look
in their eyes.
In July of this year I read
the New York Times Magazine article by Alex
Kotlowitz entitled "In
the Face of Death." It's the best explanation
of what mitigation is and why it's important
that I've ever read.
Kotlowitz captures the
essence and importance of mitigation in death
penalty cases in that
article. He essentially defines what mitigation
is as well as explaining how valuable complete
knowledge of a client is when the attorney
is trying to convey the client's worth as a
human
being to the jury.
Kotlowitz explains that
thorough mitigation investigation results in
the attorney being
able to take the
jury for walk in the client's shoes from the
time that client was born until the client
walked into the courtroom. As a result of taking
that
journey with the attorney, jurors often identify
with some part of the client's life, which
enables them to find value in the client's
life and a
reason to believe the client should not be
executed.
The article is well written and looks
at mitigation from the viewpoint of the jurors,
defense attorneys
and prosecutors. The article can be found on
the internet at:
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/magazine/ then
go to archives
and search for NYT Magazine,
Sunday,
July 6, 2003, "In the Face of Death," by
Alex Kotlowitz.
[Note: There is a charge of $2.95
for accessing archived articles.]
