Research on Mitigation and Sentencing Issues in Case Law

Need help on Mitigation and sentencing issues in case law?  Here are some of our favorite links.

This first document is a copy of one of the best mitigation resources around. Defense counsel in death penalty cases are required to investigate all aspects of the client’s life history and present all possible mitigating factors.  The goal of a mitigation presentation is to take the jury for a walk in the defendant’s shoes.  Mitigation evidence should never sound like an excuse for committing the crime.  The defense counsel should also seek the assistance of a mitigation specialist.  This article has many important cases. Link to article

Capital Defense Weekly offers a number of cases that are helpful in obtaining funding for mitigation in capital cases.  Link to article

Wiggins vs. Smith – “Investigations into mitigating evidence should comprise efforts to discover all reasonable available mitigating evidence and evidence to rebut any aggravating evidence that may be introduced by the prosecutor.”  Justice Sandra D. O’Connor, Wiggins v. Smith (2003) Link to full decision

State of Arizona vs. Bocharski – “Finding an abuse of discretion for limiting the mitigation expert to twenty-five hours of investigation”  The Arizona Supreme Court reversed the death penalty and remanded for resentencing.  State of Arizona v. Bocharski (2008) Link to full decision

We do not want to just be your mitigation specialist, we want to be part of your defense team, all working for the same cause.