ons in cases involving the death penalty. Can the death penalty be accurately applied? Few argue that the death penalty is worth the risk of executing innocent people. Many argue, however, that chances of error are minimal because of numerous procedural safeguards. In reality, though, opportunities for error are numerous. The historical record shows that many innocent people have been convicted of capital crimes, and some have been executed. Errors are difficult to research, but a 1985 study has identified over 200 cases involving nearly 350 defendants who, although innocent, were convicted in this century of crimes that were or could have been capital cases. These researchers identified 23 cases in which innocent people were executed, and an additional 27 in which the execution of innocents was stayed within only three days of the execution. In a recent case, Ricardo Aldape Guerra spent 14 years in prison, all of them on death row, for a crime he did not commit. He was eventually acquitted and released, but only after an extraordinary effort. Few cases are subjected to such scrutiny. Opportunities for errors are many, despite complex safeguards. First, the quality of legal counsel is a factor. Representing a defendant in a death penalty case is one of the most difficult, thankless and costly assignments. Yet most attorneys in such cases are underpaid and inexperienced in death penalty law. Second, death penalty juries tend to exclude those who have serious reservations about the death penalty. Recent studies of such juries suggest that they do not represent the community as a whole and that they may be more prone to convict than the general population. Third, death penalty cases are usually appealed, but appeal courts can only look at points of law. They cannot question the evidence or look at evidence introduced after the trial. An appeal may be lost simply because the attorney failed to raise an objection to a procedural error at the...
