The Role of Mitigating Factors in Capital Sentencing Before and After <i>McKoy v. North Carolina</i>

Kremling, Janine; Smith, M. Dwayne; Cochran, John K.; Bjerregaard, Beth; Fogel, Sondra J.

doi:10.1080/07418820701485361

Cited by 19 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The ramification is that jury responses to mitigation prior to the ruling are not directly comparable before (trials conducted June 1977-February 1990) and after the McKoy ruling. (See Kremling, Smith, Cochran, Bjerregaard, & Fogel [2007] for a detailed discussion of the McKoy decision and its impact on mitigation in North Carolina capital murder trials). Because of their substantially greater volume, procedural standardization during the past two decades, and more contemporary nature, the focus of this study is on trials conducted following the McKoy ruling.…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 98%

Alcohol and Drug Mitigation in Capital Murder Trials: Implications for Sentencing Decisions

Bjerregaard¹,

Smith²,

Fogel³

et al. 2009

Justice Quarterly

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Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 98%

Alcohol and Drug Mitigation in Capital Murder Trials: Implications for Sentencing Decisions

Bjerregaard¹,

Smith²,

Fogel³

et al. 2009

Justice Quarterly

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“…The initial date marks the return to capital punishment in North Carolina following the Furman v. Georgia (1972) decision that suspended its use and the Gregg v. Georgia (1976) decision that allowed its resumption. 1 Consequently, the impact of mitigation in cases before and after the McKoy decision must be analyzed separately (Kremling, Smith, Cochran, Bjerregaard, & Fogel, 2007). However, for purposes of this analysis, the time period April 1991-December 2008 was used.…”

Section: Data and Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining the “Female Victim Effect” in Capital Punishment

Richards

Jennings

Smith

et al. 2014

Crime & Delinquency

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Only a limited body of research has focused on how victim sex may affect capital sentencing decisions. Acknowledging this issue, the present study uses a large sample of capital cases from North Carolina (n = 709) and victim sex-specific logistic regression models to examine whether different variables are important predictors of receiving the death penalty for male victim cases versus female victim cases. Results indicate that (a) sex-specific models better explain juror death penalty decision-making compared with a full model, including victims of both sexes, and (b) different extralegal and legal characteristics predict jurors' decisions to choose the death penalty in cases with male victims versus female victims. Specifically, for male victims, older victim age, younger defendant age, urban jurisdiction, the number of victims killed, the number of aggravators, the number of mitigators, and case designation as heinous and cruel predict juror decision-making. Comparatively, for female victim cases, only the number of mitigators and case designation as heinous and cruel are significant predictors. Theoretical and legal implications as well as directions for future research are discussed.

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“…The change in procedure resulted in an inconsistency before and after McKoy as to how mitigators are responded to by the jury, meaning that the two periods cannot be analyzed together. Based on the work of Kremling, Smith, Cochran, Bjerregaard, and Fogel (2007), this omission is not significant; while jury acceptance of mitigators appears to have an association with jury recommendations during both eras, it is minor compared to other variables that are part of the current analysis. Given this, the advantage of retaining a large segment of the dataset (there were 421 cases tried before McKoy and 935 since) outweighed the advantages of including mitigators accepted as an independent variable.…”

Section: Fundingmentioning

confidence: 72%

Exploring the Role of Victim Sex, Victim Conduct, and Victim–Defendant Relationship in Capital Punishment Sentencing

et al. 2013

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Disparities in the administration of capital punishment are a prominent social and political issue. Recent studies indicate that victim characteristics of sex and race produce interactive effects on capital-sentencing outcomes. Extending this line of research, the current analysis explores the intersection of victim sex with victim conduct and victim-defendant relationship, utilizing a population of North Carolina capital cases spanning the years 1977 to 2009 ( N = 1,285). Findings indicate that cases with a female victim who was not involved in illegal activity at the time of the murder and acquaintance female victim cases are most likely to result in a death recommendation. Potential reasons for these findings are discussed.

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The Role of Mitigating Factors in Capital Sentencing Before and After McKoy v. North Carolina

Cited by 19 publications

References 20 publications

Alcohol and Drug Mitigation in Capital Murder Trials: Implications for Sentencing Decisions

Alcohol and Drug Mitigation in Capital Murder Trials: Implications for Sentencing Decisions

Explaining the “Female Victim Effect” in Capital Punishment

Exploring the Role of Victim Sex, Victim Conduct, and Victim–Defendant Relationship in Capital Punishment Sentencing

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