Deck 14: Death Penalty Trials and Appeals

Question 1

Is the psychologist's role in death-penalty evaluations that of an advocate or an objective scientist?

Answer 1

no answer

Question 2

What is the fundamental attribution error?

Answer 2

no answer

Question 3

Is it legal to execute a mentally-retarded person?

Answer 3

The legality of executing a mentally-retarded person, now more appropriately referred to as a person with an intellectual disability, varies by jurisdiction, but in the United States, it has been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.In the landmark case Atkins v. Virginia (2002), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing individuals with intellectual disabilities violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The Court reasoned that such individuals are less culpable due to their impairments in reasoning, judgment, and control of their impulses. Therefore, they do not act with the level of moral culpability that characterizes the most serious adult criminal conduct.
However, the Supreme Court left it to the states to determine the criteria for deciding whether a person has an intellectual disability. This has led to some variability in how the ruling is applied. States must have procedures in place to ensure that individuals with intellectual disabilities are not executed, but the specifics can differ from one state to another.
It's important to note that the legal landscape can change, and different countries have different laws regarding this issue. Some countries may still permit the execution of individuals with intellectual disabilities, while others may have blanket bans on capital punishment altogether, making the issue moot.
In summary, in the United States, it is unconstitutional to execute a person with an intellectual disability, but the implementation of this principle can vary by state. In other parts of the world, the legality of such executions depends on local laws and international human rights standards.

Question 4

Define death-qualification.

Question 5

What is meant by a bifurcated trial?

Question 6

In capital murder trials,do defendants sometimes receive incompetent counsel from their attorneys? What are some examples? Why does this happen?

Question 7

What is exculpatory evidence?

Question 8

If a capital case is called for,what roles might a forensic psychologist play in the process?

Question 9

What is the current legal status of executing offenders who committed murders when minors? Describe the court's ruling in Roper v.Simmons.

Question 10

What does a psychologist do in a mitigation assessment? At what step does this occur?

Question 11

How many convictions for serious crimes are mistakes?

Question 12

Define the brutalization effect.

Question 13

Does the presence of a death penalty deter crime?

Question 14

Describe some aggravating and mitigating factors.

Question 15

Describe the case of Scott Panetti.

Question 16

Have any innocent people been executed in the United States?

Question 17

What is involved in a competency evaluation in a death-penalty case?

Question 18

Are appellate courts responsive to a defendant who is sentenced to death when no new evidence surfaces that might indicate the defendant's innocence? Cite examples.

Question 19

Which costs the state more: execution or life imprisonment?

Question 20

What is the significance of the Supreme Court decisions in Furman v.Georgia and Gregg v.Georgia?

Question 21

Which of the following is NOT an aggravating factor?

A)Extreme emotion
B)Murder of a law-enforcement official
C)Murder for hire
D)"Depravity of mind"

Question 22

Is there racial bias in the application of the death sentence? Other biases?

Question 23

A capital case is one

A)that has received a great deal of publicity.
B)involving the theft of capital assets.
C)in which the death penalty is sought.
D)that occurred in the nation's capital.

Question 24

Which of the following is NOT a mitigating factor?

A)Extreme emotion
B)Domination by another
C)Age of the victim
D)Youth of the defendant

Question 25

What would be the correct chronological of roles for a forensic psychologist in a potential death penalty case?

A)Change of venue survey,Assessing competency to stand trial,Mitigation assessment,Jury selection
B)Change of venue survey,Mitigation assessment,Jury selection,Assessing competency to stand trial
C)Assessing competency to stand trial,Change of venue survey,Jury selection,Mitigation assessment
D)Assessing competency to stand trial,Jury selection,Mitigation assessment,Change of venue survey

Question 26

The two parts of as bifurcated trial are

A)prosecution's presentation and defense's presentation.
B)voir dire and presentation of evidence.
C)trial presentation and jury deliberations.
D)guilt determination and sentencing.

Question 27

What is perhaps the greatest source of erroneous convictions in death penalty cases?

A)The prosecution withholding evidence
B)Police error
C)Death-qualified jurors
D)Inadequate counsel for the defendant

Question 28

A survey of mental health professionals regarding competency for execution evaluations found

A)those willing to do evaluations were more opposed to the death penalty than those not willing.
B)those willing to do evaluations were more in favor of the death penalty than those not willing.
C)those willing to do evaluations did not differ from those unwilling to do evaluations in favorability toward capital punishment.
D)Less than half of the psychologists and psychiatrists surveyed were willing to do competency for execution evaluations.

Question 29

In which country did 90% of executions take place in 2004?

A)China
B)Iran
C)Russia
D)The United States

Question 30

Which of the following reasons was not included in the

Question 31

In Panetti v.Quarterman (2007),the Supreme Court ruled that

A)Panetti was incompetent and could not be executed.
B)death row inmates could still litigate their competency after an execution date has been set.
C)Panetti was mentally ill,but was still competent and could be executed.
D)mentally ill defendants cannot represent themselves and so Panetti should get a new trial.

Question 32

The case of Jesse DeWayne Jacobs in Texas is important because he was

A)executed but later the true killer confessed.
B)convicted but later the prosecutor admitted he was wrong;Jacobs was still executed.
C)the first person on death row to be released because of DNA testing.
D)falsely sentenced to death for killing a police officer,based on the testimony of the true killer.

Question 33

Evidence that casts doubt on the guilt of the defendant is called

A)exculpatory evidence.
B)discovery evidence.
C)attorney work product.
D)withholding evidence.

Question 34

The best guess as to what percentage of convictions are errors is

A)0.1%.
B)0.5%.
C)1%.
D)5%.

Question 35

The Supreme Court decision that reinstated the death penalty was

A)Godfrey v.Georgia.
B)Gregg v.Georgia.
C)Furman v.Georgia.
D)Herrera v.Collins.

Question 36

If a prosecutor was to say about a defendant,"If you or I had those problems,we would still not choose to kill," they would be using a strategy based on

A)prototype-matching.
B)the moral legitimacy of revenge.
C)the fundamental attribution error.
D)the victim's suffering.

Question 37

What does the joint resolution on Mental Illness and the death penalty from the American Psychological Association,the American Bar Association,the American Psychiatric Association,and the National Alliance on Mental Illness say?

Question 38

Since the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976,approximately how many people have been executed?

A)90
B)300
C)700
D)1100

Question 39

In which state does the jury,after convicting a defendant of murder,make an assessment of whether the defendant is a continuing threat to society (and ifthey conclude that he or she is,give the defendant a death sentence)?

A)California
B)Florida
C)Texas
D)Alabama

Question 40

In how many cases in which the death penalty can be assigned,is it?

A)10%
B)20%
C)30%
D)40%

Question 41

In 1972,the Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty in

A)Godfrey v.Georgia.
B)Gregg v.Georgia.
C)Furman v.Georgia.
D)Herrera v.Collin.

Question 42

Which states have executed the most persons in recent years?

A)California,Florida,and Georgia
B)New Jersey,Oregon,and Alabama
C)Texas,Oklahoma,and Virginia
D)Mississippi,Arkansas,and Oklahoma

Question 43

The Supreme Court outlaw the death penalty in 1972 because

A)of the number of death row inmates exonerated by DNA evidence.
B)the appeal system was too extensive.
C)it was applied arbitrarily.
D)the methods of execution were cruel and unusual.

Question 44

How many states have no death penalty?

A)8
B)12
C)32
D)38

Question 45

In the reauthorization of the Patriot Act,who decides whether states are providing adequate counsel for defendants in death penalty cases?

A)Federal judges
B)The State Appeals Court
C)The State Legislature
D)The Attorney General

Question 46

The brutalization effect refers to the

A)tendency for a serial killer to increase the extent of torture and sadism in his later crimes.
B)conclusion that executions increase the murder rate.
C)awareness by potential murderers that they will be executed and hence they are deterred from crime.
D)nature of the use of the electric chair for execution,in comparison to other,more humane devices,such as lethal injection.

Question 47

Leonel Herrera's appeal from death row was denied because

A)claims of innocence are not enough to grant a writ of habeas corpus.
B)he had exhausted all of his appeals.
C)ineffective counsel is not grounds for appeal.
D)he was not deemed clinically incompetent.

Question 48

The majority research concludes that the presence of a death penalty option does NOT deter crime.

A)does NOT deter crime.
B)does deter crime.
C)deters violent offenses,but does not deter nonviolent defenses.
D)deters nonviolent offenses,but does not deter violent defenses.