Today death penalty lawyers are a rare though increasingly much-needed breed.
In the incidence of capital cases, the U. S. Supreme Court has recognized what research has long shown:
Jurors often make sentencing decisions prematurely, ……and they often base their decisions on their personal reactions to the defendant, …..their confusion about the rules of law, …..and their lack of understanding regarding their own role and responsibilities
In an effort to safeguard against jurors’ “unguided emotional responses” when determining punishment for capital defendants, the Court set forth a legal standard that requires defense teams in capital cases to conduct thorough investigations into the defendants’ backgrounds.
If the defendant is found guilty, the information derived from that investigation must then be presented as mitigating evidence during the penalty phase of the trial.
The capital mitigation process comes to life when a Legal Defense teams’s social worker, using a life history model of investigation, assumes the role of mitigation specialist, AND by capitalizing on social work theory and research, practice knowledge and skills yields vital information that, through objective presentation of fact…..guides sentencing .
The gold standard for mitigation practice is reliance on focused investigation and presentation of evidence about a defendant’s life and character that is sufficient to compel jurors to consider a complexity of personal, social, and ecological issues in deciding attribution of responsibility that mitigate defendants’ legal accountability in capital offenses.
The established mitigation strategy that relies on social histories and life-stories survives and thrives as a legal mandate and preferred approach in capital cases.
In this Special TV Documentary, The Insider Exclusive presents one of America’s most successful Capital Defense Mitigation & Consulting Teams – CLS Mitigation & Consulting Services in a special program entitled “BUILDING CAPITAL DEFENSE TEAMS –
Featuring Cyndy Short & The CLS Mitigation & Consulting Services Team who have successfully created Capital Defense Teams to defend the innocent…. and the very guilty.
They work hard to understand the lives of people …….who take the lives of others.
Cyndy and her team work in states where political will for executions is high and the commitment to public defender programs…. nonexistent.
“They are deeply committed people who have chosen to make their mark on this world,”
And that is why Cyndy Short has earned the highest respect from Judges, juries, Prosecutors and lawyers alike…. as one of the best Capital Defense lawyers in America today.
You can reach Cyndy Short, Ptr, McCallister Law Firm 816-931-2229, or visit www.mccallisterlawfirm.com