Imagine sitting in a courtroom and being on trial for a very serious capital offense. Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is a possible sentence for this terrible crime. Watch as the public defense lawyer in charge of the case ruins any chance of a lesser punishment … because he is drunk. This is exactly what happened to Robert Hosley. According to Marc Bookman, Hosley went to trial for committing a capital offense: murdering a police officer. His public defense lawyer, Andy Prince, entered court drunk many days of the trial and failed to demonstrate to the judge or jurors that his defendant was intellectually challenged and that he was terribly abused as a child. Consequently, without these key pieces of information, Hosley was sentenced
…show more content…
According to "History of the Death Penalty", Capital Punishment dates back to the Code of Hammurabi during the 18th century BC, where the punishment for a crime was determined by the socioeconomic status of the criminal as well as the defendant (Reggio). Owen Jarsus states, “The punishments were only ‘eye for an eye’ if the two individuals involved were socially equal” (Jarus). Following the code of Hammurabi, empires and peoples across the world stole his ideas and added the death penalty in their code of laws, and they, too, had separate punishments for those of nobility and those of lower status. The “History of the Death Penalty” states that the Americas developed the death penalty from European colonists. In this time period, slavery and socioeconomic discrimination were common and acceptable. Consequently, the offenses that resulted in death sentencing were not actually the worst of the worst crimes, but crimes primarily committed by those of lower status against those of upper status such as “stealing grapes, killing chickens, killing dogs or horses without permission, or trading with Indians” (Reggio). Rarely, did the wealthy ever receive a death penalty sentence unless the crime was committed against someone of higher status. While the death penalty today differs greatly from the death penalty during colonial times, those in poverty face the worst punishment in
According to "History of the Death Penalty", Capital Punishment dates back to the Code of Hammurabi during the 18th century BC, where the punishment for a crime was determined by the socioeconomic status of the criminal as well as the defendant (Reggio). Owen Jarsus states, “The punishments were only ‘eye for an eye’ if the two individuals involved were socially equal” (Jarus). Following the code of Hammurabi, empires and peoples across the world stole his ideas and added the death penalty in their code of laws, and they, too, had separate punishments for those of nobility and those of lower status. The “History of the Death Penalty” states that the Americas developed the death penalty from European colonists. In this time period, slavery and socioeconomic discrimination were common and acceptable. Consequently, the offenses that resulted in death sentencing were not actually the worst of the worst crimes, but crimes primarily committed by those of lower status against those of upper status such as “stealing grapes, killing chickens, killing dogs or horses without permission, or trading with Indians” (Reggio). Rarely, did the wealthy ever receive a death penalty sentence unless the crime was committed against someone of higher status. While the death penalty today differs greatly from the death penalty during colonial times, those in poverty face the worst punishment in