Bifurcated capital trials split guilt determination from structured sentencing decisions
Evidence
During the first stage of the bifurcated trial, the prosecution and defense present evidence, and the jury determines the guilt or innocence of the accused. Should the defendant be found guilty, during the second stage of the trial, the prosecution presents testimony and other evidence _as to aggravating factors that make the crime more serious and hence dnore deserving of the death penalty. The defense attorney counters with evidence as to mitigating factors that make the crime less serious or the defendant less blameworthy, so that the death penalty should not be imposed. To guide juries in determining the appropriate penalty, states have devised lists of aggravating and mitigating factors that jurors are obliged to consider before imposing sentence. â G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and JudicialâŠ, 2016
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines the two-stage capital trial and the aggravating/mitigating factor framework central to death-penalty doctrine.
- XREF: connects to: American capital sentencing historically concentrated both verdict and punishment in the jury. â G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and JudicialâŠ, 1996; Trial structure biases juries toward the death penalty via âstructural aggravationâ â Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do HarmâŠ, 2004; Capital trial structure deliberately enables jurorsâ moral self-exoneration â Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do HarmâŠ, 1984 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- Trial structure biases juries toward the death penalty via âstructural aggravationâ
#expands(1.00) â Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2004 - Capital trial structure deliberately enables jurorsâ moral self-exoneration
#corroborates(1.00) â Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1984 - Capital trials are deliberately structured to let jurors avoid moral responsibility
#corroborates(1.00) - Gregg v. Georgia made bifurcated trials the universal capital-sentencing procedure
#corroborates(1.00) â G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and JudicialâŠ, 2015 - Jurors displace guilt onto the legal systemâs decisions
#expands(0.90) â Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2001