A Capital Murder

Describing an outstanding example of the use of forensic art therapy in a criminal case, David Gussak, contracted by the defence to analyse the evidence in this instance, recounts his findings and presentation in court, as well as the future implications of his work for criminal proceedings.

This fourth edition of the first true textbook on the death penalty engages the reader with a full account of the arguments and issues surrounding capital punishment. The book begins with the history of the death penalty from colonial to modern times, and then examines the moral and legal arguments for and against capital punishment. It also provides an overview of major Supreme Court decisions and describes the legal process behind the death penalty. In addressing these issues, the author reviews recent developments in death penalty law and procedure, including ramifications of newer case law, such as that regarding using lethal injection as a method of execution. The author’s motivation has been to understand what motivates the "deathquest" of the American people, leading a large percentage of the public to support the death penalty. The book will educate readers so that whatever their death penalty opinions are, they are informed ones.

New York Times bestselling author Phillip Margolin brings back reader favorites—private investigator Dana Cutler and lawyer Brad Miller—in CAPITOL MURDER, the thrilling new installment in Margolin’s Washington Trilogy. Readers were first introduced to Brad and Dana in Executive Privilege, where they unmasked the President’s involvement in serial murders. In Supreme Justice, Brad and Dana were able to save the life of a Supreme Court Justice while foiling a plot by rogue members of the CIA to fix a case headed for the Court. Now, in CAPITOL MURDER, Brad and Dana are reunited by wicked threats old and new. Convicted serial killer Clarence Little has escaped from death row in Oregon, and Brad receives threatening messages in DC, where he is working for Senator Jack Carson, a high-ranking member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. A dead body, murdered according to Littl’es MO, is found in the senator’s Georgetown home, and Carson has disappeared. While Dana is in Oregon digging into Carson’s shady background, a terrorist cell is poised to destory a packed professional football stadium in one of the biggest attacks on American soil. As the senator’s personal life begins to dovetail with the cell’s eviil plan, Brad and Dana will risk it all again to uncover the truth and save their country. Phillip Margolin proves once more that he is a true master of suspense, delivering another high-octane thriller set in Washington’s legendary corridors of power. CAPITOL MURDER’s breathaking pace and electrifying twists will have old fans and newcomers racing to the final, stunning page.

Murder Capital explores Prohibition-era Madison, Wisconsin. Per capita, Madison was the most violent and deadly city in the United States during the 1920s. Along with the usual suspects (bootleggers), Madison was unique in its strong Ku Klux Klan presence. In the background was a prominent judge, overseeing Mafia cases by day, but by night taking illegal loans from these very same criminals. In effect, the Judge tied his own hands and the violence was allowed to continue unabated.

A Capital Case in America examines how Americans handle their most serious murder cases by telling the stories of six actual death penalty crimes and trials. It re-creates the six murders themselves, as well as the investigations, prosecutions, defenses, and aftermaths. A Capital Case in America will be fascinating reading for anyone interested in true crimes and a valuable resource to criminal justice professionals and students. It studies such investigative devices as searches, confessions, and lineups, as well as the adversarial roles of the lawyers on both sides. Crump and Jacobs consider the arguments for and against the death penalty against the background of the six cases. A final series of chapters tells what happened to each of the defendants, with parole eligibility dates for those who received life sentences and execution protocols for those who did not. The reader is left to contemplate two related questions: Can the sentences of these defendants be justified? Can justice be done without capital punishment?

From 1965 until 1980, there was a virtual moratorium on executions for capital offenses in the United States. This was due primarily to protracted legal proceedings challenging the death penalty on constitutional grounds. After much Sturm und Drang, the Supreme Court of the United States, by a divided vote, finally decided that "the death penalty does not invariably violate the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment." The Court's decisions, however, do not moot the controversy about the death penalty or render this excellent book irrelevant. The ball is now in the court of the Legislature and the Executive. Leg islatures, federal and state, can impose or abolish the death penalty, within the guidelines prescribed by the Supreme Court. A Chief Executive can commute a death sentence. And even the Supreme Court can change its mind, as it has done on many occasions and did, with respect to various aspects of the death penalty itself, durlog the moratorium period. Also, the people can change their minds. Some time ago, a majority, according to reliable polls, favored abolition. Today, a substantial majority favors imposition of the death penalty. The pendulum can swing again, as it has done in the past.

An innovative, comprehensive overview of capital punishment. This book offers an objective, policy-oriented examination of the death penalty as practiced in the United States.

Agreeing to investigate a cold-case file, private investigator Robert Brixton finds himself in the underworld of Savannah's power elite and uncovers a secret government organization of contract killers who perform "patriotic" assassinations.

The unsung heroes who defend the accused from the ultimate punishment What motivates someone to make a career out of defending some of the worst suspected killers of our time? In Capital Defense, Jon B. Gould and Maya Pagni Barak give us a glimpse into the lives of lawyers who choose to work in the darkest corner of our criminal justice system: death penalty cases. Based on in-depth personal interviews with a cross-section of the nation’s top capital defense teams, the book explores the unusual few who voluntarily represent society’s “worst of the worst.” With a compassionate and careful eye, Gould and Barak chronicle the experiences of American lawyers, who—like soldiers or surgeons—operate under the highest of stakes, where verdicts have the power to either “take death off the table” or put clients on “the conveyor belt towards death.” These lawyers are a rare breed in a field that is otherwise seen as dirty work and in a system that is overburdened, under-resourced, and overshadowed by social, cultural, and political pressures. Examining the ugliest side of our criminal justice system, Capital Defense offers an up-close perspective on the capital litigation process and its impact on the people who participate in it.