Defendant’s Background Can Mean Difference Between Sentence of Life or Death

WHO: Center for Justice in Capital Cases at the DePaul University College of Law, which defends individuals charged with capital crimes and serves as a training ground for students interested in, and practitioners engaged in, criminal defense.

WHAT: Will sponsor an intensive mitigation training program that will explore how mitigation factors can impact sentencing in capital cases. Mitigation investigations, which entail the collection and presentation of intimate details about a defendant’s background—such as a history of being abused or molested as a child, drug abuse, mental illness, family dysfunction, etc.—can influence whether an individual charged with a capital crime is sentenced to life in prison or death. Mitigation investigators assist criminal defense lawyers by providing such history.

An overview of the role of mitigation will be presented by Andrea Lyon, director of the Center for Justice in Capital cases. Lyon has earned a national reputation for her defense of defendants facing the death penalty. Mark Cunningham, an expert in forensic psychology and a licensed clinical psychologist, will present data and discuss the violence and risk assessment involved in sentencing a defendant convicted of a capital crime to life in prison as opposed to the death penalty.

WHEN: The conference will run June 10 through 17. Lyon will provide her overview and moderate a panel on the overall impact of mitigation from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. June 10. Cunningham will make his presentation at 9 a.m. June 15.

WHERE: The DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., Room 8005

According to the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, 37 states and the Federal prison system held 3,374 prisoners under sentence of death at the end of 2003. That figure represents 188 fewer prisoners than at the end of 2002. The Mitigation Training Program, which is co-sponsored by the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Representation Project, will equip participants with the necessary tools to help provide the type of details about a criminal defendant’s past that could mean the difference between life and death. Individuals participating in the training currently are conducting mitigation investigations in pending capital cases. For more information or to register contact Molly Burke at mburke12@depaul.edu or 312-262-5837.

Note to Editors: Reporters wishing to cover the event should contact Valerie Phillips at 312/362-5039 or 312/330-3155.