Preview

Daryl Atkins

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
634 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Daryl Atkins
Daryl Atkins Eligible for execution is about Daryl Atkins murder case. Unlike most murder cases though Daryl Atkins was mentally retarded and the debate wasn’t weather he was guilty or innocent, it was if he should receive the death penalty for his crime or not. The location of the crime played a big role in the jury selection because York County was a more white area compared to Hampton County where Atkins abducted Nesbitt. “The prosecutor is the public official who represents the people in legal actions against the criminal offender” (pg 25). For serious cases like this case the prosecutor gets involved earlier and work with the police to create a case. Virginia appoints lawyers that meet certain qualifications to represent people who can’t afford a lawyer. Hampton County appointed George Rogers for Atkins and 2 lawyers for William Jones (Timothy Clancy and Leslie Smith). “Under Virginia law “the willful, deliberate and premeditated killing of any person during the commission of a serious crime, such as robbery, abduction, or rape, constitutes capital murder” (pg.30). Daryl Atkins bail was overly excessive at $650,00 considering he wasn’t believed to be the killer, had know violent acts prior, and was to poor to actually post that bail amount. A grand jury is when a group of people are presented evidence from the prosecutor. The grand Jury looks over this evidence and decides if the case should go forward and proceed to trial which would be a ‘true bill indictment or if the case should be thrown out. The book talks how a grand theft charge can be moved down to a petit larceny charge through plea-bargaining. William Jones struck a plea bargain by saying he was guilty to all charges except non-capital murder. Punishment must fit the bill in the U.S. criminal justice system. A person who steals a TV isn’t going to jail for life but a person who kills a person may be going to jail for life. The more serious the crime the more time must be spent on gathering


Cited: Walker, Thomas G. Eligible for Execution: The Story of the Daryl Atkins Case. Washington, D.C.: CQ, 2008. Print.
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Mckleskey V. Kemp Law Brief
    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Mckleskey V. Kemp Law Brief

    McCleskey was convicted of murder, by the jury. In the state of Georgia the jury is not allowed to impose, or consider imposing the death penalty unless it is found beyond reasonable doubt that the murder was accompanied by statutory aggravating circumstances. The jury in this case found two aggravating circumstances to exist. They found that the murder was committed during an armed robbery, and that the murder was committed against a peace officer while he was doing his duties. The court agreed with the jury and sentenced McCleskey to death. McCleskey, on many attempts had failed to achieve relief from the Supreme Courts of Georgia on appeals, his writ of certiorari, and a motion for a new trial. This lead McCleskey to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. One of the claims was that the Georgia capital sentencing process is administered in a racially discriminatory manner which violates the Eight and Fourteenth Amendments. In order to support this claim, McCleskey used a statistical study to prove that black defendants who kill white victims are more likely to receive the death sentence in the state.…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Darryl Hunt Research Paper
    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Darryl Hunt Research Paper

    My view upon death penalty before watching the video about Darryl hunt’s case, was strongly against it. I truly believe that we have no say in who is to take someone’s life. Who are we to decide who lives or dies? There is no standard that we can place on someone’s life, to determine their existence in this world. Life is a precious gift, no matter how cruel the crime may be that the person being accused of committing the crime. I strongly believe that incarceration for the reminder of their life is in my view, the most extreme decision as a society to make in determining an individuals future.…

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Daryl Atkins
    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Daryl Atkins

    Daryl Atkins was born in a small town called Hampton, Virginia. He was the oldest of many siblings and they all seemed to look up to their big brother. Unfortunately, by the time Daryl was seven years old his parents got a divorce. This paid a toll on the family financially. When Daryl’s father left, his mother picked up a second job to be the breadwinner of her large family.…

    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Carl Lee Jury Trial
    • 1632 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Carl Lee Jury Trial

    There is a thing known as a jury trial process that is supposed to happen in every jury trial case. Although, not followed perfectly in the jury trial of Carl Lee it is followed pretty well for a movie. The jury trial process is as follows; a crime is commited, an investigation is conducted, a warrant is issued, then the arrest is made, once arrested the criminal is booked, then they have their bail hearing. Following the bail hearing the preliminary arraignment happens these are when the informal charges are presented, after that comes the preliminary hearing this is where the court reviews the evidence to make sure there is enough evidence for a case to occur. If there is enough evidence they move on to the formal indictment where the…

    • 1632 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Cj 340 Unit 9
    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Cj 340 Unit 9

    Hansen, M. (1993). Death penalty system in turmoil. ABA Journal, 79, 32-32. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/194351577?accountid=34544…

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Gregg V. Georgia 1976
    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Gregg V. Georgia 1976

    A Jury found Troy Gregg guilty of committing an armed robbery and murder. In accordance with Georgia law, the trial was in two stages, a guilt stage, and a sentencing stage. At the guilt stage of Georgia's bifurcated procedure, the jury found the petitioner guilty of two accounts armed robbery and murder. At the penalty stage, the judge instructed the jury that it could recommend either a death sentence or a life prison sentence on each count and the jury returned the verdict of death. Challenging his death sentence, Gregg claimed that his capital sentence was "cruel and unusual" punishment, violating the 8th and 14th amendment.…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    8th amendment
    • 340 Words
    • 2 Pages

    8th amendment

    The Eighth Amendment: It prohibits excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment. In the case of Atkins v. Virginia, the facts brought to the court was that the defendant, Daryl Atkins was tried for capital murder and sentenced to death for the shooting of a victim named Eric Nesbitt. Atkins had been smoking and drinking all day before he decided to walk to a convenient store and hold Nesbitt at gun point, upon Daryl’s dissatisfaction with the money he took, he kidnaped Nesbitt, taking him to an ATM to with drawl 200 dollars, along with a friend named William Jones, in Nesbitt’s car. When Daryl was satisfied with the money taken, he further continued his violence by driving Nesbitt to an isolated area, forcing him out of the vehicle, and then shot Nesbitt eight times killing him.…

    • 340 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hall Vs. Florida case summary
    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hall Vs. Florida case summary

    Similar cases to the Hall v. Florida case include Atkins v. Virginia, Penry v. Lynaugh, and Hitchcock v. Dugger. In the Atkins v. Virginia case Deryl Atkins confessed to the murder of Eric Nesbitt. Atkins was tried and found guilty, and was placed on Death Row. However, a series of IQ tests deemed him mentally retarded, with an IQ of 59. His Death Row sentence was appealed, because it violated the 8th amendment of cruel and unusual punishment. Because of his low IQ score, despite the fact that he was considered fairly intelligent, his could not be sentenced to death. This idea is the same within the Hall v. Florida case. Many states such as Georgia followed this idea that sentencing mentally challenged criminals to death is unconstitutional. In the Penry v. Lynaugh case, Penry was tried, convicted and placed on death row. The court in Texas did not consider his mental retardation a mitigating factor in sentencing him to Death Row. When he was tried for a second time, he was again placed on Death Row. Eventually the Atkins v. Virginia case caused the court to end his death sentence, after proving his sentence a violation of the 8th Amendment. Lastly, in the Hitchcock v. Dugger case, the Supreme Court upheld that the 8th Amendment is in fact constitutional. It was a 9-0 decision to have Hitchcock placed on Death Row, and that all mitigating factors should be considered instead of solely the relevant statutes.…

    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Bedau's Argument Against Capital Punishment
    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Bedau's Argument Against Capital Punishment

    Although he uses many examples to expose Capital Punishment’s unethicality, this critique focuses on three; discriminatory sentencing, barbaric application, and the irrevocability of a death sentence. Bedau reasons that one of the motives of the Supreme Court’s ruling that the death penalty was unconstitutional in Furman was due to apparent racial discrimination. Between 1930 and 1976, 455 men were executed for rape. Of those executed, 405 were African American. That is a nearly 90 percent of the executions that took place. As America has become more tolerant, many claim that racial discrimination in death penalty cases is outdated. Bedau thinks it strange then how more than fifty percent of inmates sitting on death row are African American. In addition, Bedau claims that “the application of the death penalty is inhumane.”(Bedau) Hanging, firing squad, electrocution, and gassing are still options available to state executioners when executing an inmate. In recent years, lethal injection has been the method most commonly used in the majority of executions because it is deemed to be painless. However, there is no evidence of this being the case and there have been many instances where injections were botched by breaches in protocol. Bedau lists as most disturbing is the fact that death penalty cases are irrevocable. There have been cases where evidence has emerged, exonerating an inmate…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Florida's Argumentative Essay
    • 1411 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Florida's Argumentative Essay

    Because the jury issues but a mere advisory opinion and not binding upon the court, Florida’s sentencing scheme must be unconstitutional. Florida’s statute requires that a court imposing the death sentence must make a written, detailed finding. This detailed account—not the jury’s verdict—that furnishes the basis for the Supreme Court of Florida’s review. Respondent’s rely on Hildwin (1989 case that permits the judge to find aggravating circumstances that authorize the death sentence) because it has not been expressly overruled. The ideas and principles in Hildwin were thrown out with Walton, clarified in Ring, and expressly overrule today.…

    • 1411 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Analysis of Death and Justice, by Edward Koch
    • 1282 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Analysis of Death and Justice, by Edward Koch

    In his essay Death and Justice, Edward Koch argues in support of capital punishment, he believes it is just and it saves lives. He successfully delivers an argument laced with true and vivid examples of unforgettable murderous events. His intended audience consists of the opposing voters and readers of the New Republic, the political magazine that published his essay. Prior to reading Edward Koch’s essay I was sure that I would disagree but it became clear to me that he is right. There are seven commonly held views against the death penalty that Koch argues against in his essay. In what follows I discuss a few of his arguments and show that the death penalty is the most viable approach to deal with convicted murderers.…

    • 1282 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Sentencing Proposal
    • 1139 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Sentencing Proposal

    The last stage of a criminal trial is known as sentencing. During sentencing the convening authority over the criminal court proceedings makes a determination of how the guilty party should be punished. Prior to that determination being made both the defense attorneys and prosecutors may make their arguments as to why or why not the defendant should be punished to the fullest of the law. The judge taking these arguments into consideration makes his or her decision on what type sentence to hand down. While the main goal is to punish those that are found guilty there are five sentencing rationales in use in the American criminal justice system. These rationales are retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, restoration, and incapacitation. In the case of State v. Stu Dents, the judge will use the rationales of rehabilitation and incapacitation. The defense and prosecutors will make their arguments and propose the type of sentence Mr. Dents should receive which in turn will protect him and society.…

    • 1139 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    John Donohue Critical Theory
    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages

    John Donohue Critical Theory

    With reference to your article, three studies that have attempted to empirically assess the concepts of “suitably directed” and “minimization of risk” are John Donohue’s 1973-2007 study of capital sentencing in Connecticut, David McCord’s study using the “depravity point calculator,” and David Baldus’s split study in 1973 and 1979 on the examination of the influence of race on death penalty decisions in Georgia. According to your article, Donohue’s study identified 205 potentially death eligible murders in the state. Donohue coded and calculated for factors that might have “influenced jurors, such as the victim’s suffering, the defendant’s motive, the number of victims, and mitigating factors, such as mental illness or impairment.” The results…

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    8th Amendment Essay
    • 2118 Words
    • 9 Pages

    8th Amendment Essay

    The purpose of this paper will be to examine the extent in which capital punishment is allowed in the United States. Since early colonial America, the death penalty has been a major issue of debate among the public. Highly contested topics, beginning with the questionable morality of such a punishment and growing into more sophisticated arguments relating to the Eighth Amendment and race, have led to numerous United States Supreme Court cases looking to determine the extent in which capital punishment could be used in the United States.…

    • 2118 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Just and Fairness of the Death Penalty
    • 2031 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The Just and Fairness of the Death Penalty

    ProCon.Org. (2009, January 1). Should the death penalty be used for retribution? Retrieved October 24, 2011, from http://deathpenatly.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001004: http://deathpenatly.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001004…

    • 2031 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More

Related Topics