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    Year-End 2016

    Volume IX Issue 2   December 2016

    Death Penalty

    Message from the Director

    Emily Olson-Gault

    We are facing a time of extraordinary uncertainty about the future of the death penalty. While the past year included major legal victories for fairness and due process in capital cases, it also included a vote in one state to overturn a legislative repeal of the death penalty, and a vote in another state to lower the standards for capital representation in the name of expediency.

    Volunteer Success Stories

    Evidence

    Lack of Evidence in Alabama Case Leads to Dismissal of Indictment

    A team of volunteer lawyers at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher won release and dismissal of the indictment for their client George Martin. Gibson Dunn joined Mr. Martin’s team after being recruited by the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery. After years of research, the Gibson Dunn team filed a petition for post-conviction relief based on claims of prosecutorial misconduct; they had uncovered thousands of pages of evidence in the State’s files that were not disclosed to defense counsel.

    30 Years in Review

    Death Penalty

    30 Years: 1986-2016

    For 30 years, the Death Penalty Representation Project has fought to ensure effective representation for every individual facing a death sentence. The Project’s records of case placements only date back to 1998, but since that time the Project has recruited counsel for at least 320 death row prisoners who otherwise might have faced the death penalty alone. With pro bono assistance, 76 of those prisoners have been able to win a sentence of less than death or were exonerated, and about 175 of those cases are ongoing.

    2016 Year in Review

    Court Administration

    State High Courts Split on Application of Hurst v. Florida

    Some of the biggest changes to the death penalty in 2016 followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Hurst v. Florida. In Hurst, the Court found Florida’s death penalty sentencing statute unconstitutional because it gave judges the discretion to find aggravating factors apart from those found by the jury during the sentencing phase. Although the decision in Hurst only directly controlled Florida law, there was widespread expectation that this decision would also impact two other states with similar schemes: Delaware and Alabama.

    U.S. Supreme Court

    About Project Press

    Project Press is the newsletter of the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project. Each issue contains news about the Project, clients in need of pro bono assistance, death penalty cases and opinions, training opportunities, and much more!

    Issues in this Volume

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