Watch: Myth #5 - Death penalty trials are a fair process

MYTH

Death penalty trials are a fair process. Trials and appeals are closely scrutinised. The defendant's basic rights are protected.

FACT

People are executed around the world every day because they did not have a fair trial.

"As someone who both served as a prosecutor and a defender, it is clear to me that if we cannot execute the death penalty with absolute perfection and fairness, and it is undeniably clear that we cannot, then we are unqualified to execute anyone at all." - Aundre Herron, former prosecutor and defender whose older brother was murdered in 1994

USA

At the jury level, research has shown that almost 50% of jury members decide the penalty before the sentencing phase of the trial. This is before they have heard the penalty phase evidence or received instructions on how to decide the punishment.

At the defence level, up to 1 in 4 condemned inmates have been represented at trial or on appeal by court-appointed attorneys who have been disciplined for professional misconduct at some point in their careers. Not convinced? Read about the disastrous trial of Linda Carty, a British national on death row in Texas. Of all of Reprieve's clients, she is the closest to execution. Please help us save her life.

At trial level, many factors can cause a wrongful conviction, including:

• Eyewitness error (due to confusion or faulty memory);
• Government misconduct (by both the police and the prosecution). Some prosecutors knowingly send the wrong person to their death;
• Junk science: mishandled evidence or use of unqualified "experts". See the case of Kenny Richey or Cameron Todd Willingham;
• Snitch testimony (often in exchange for a reduced sentence);
• False confessions (resulting from mental illness or retardation, as well as police torture).

At appeal level, US Supreme Court Justices have held that the Constitution doesn’t prohibit executing an inmate who had a full and fair trial, even if he later convinces an appeals court that he is innocent. (See Herrera v. Collins)

Reprieve assists British citizens facing the death penalty abroad. We try to provide assistance to cases at all levels, from trial to clemency. While our original focus was on British nationals, our EC Project allows us to extend this work to nationals of other countries.

Eastern and Middle Eastern countries

In Malaysia, Chan King Yu, one of Reprieve's clients, was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. Thanks to Reprieve's work, Chan's conviction was overturned after it was discovered the police had lied in court.

In Pakistan, after more than five years in prison without trial, and having suffered torture at the hands of the police, Naheem Hussain and Rehan Zaman are currently facing execution. Torture techniques used to make them confess include falaka (whipping the foot with a rod or cane rendering them unable to walk), "inverse strappado" (being hung from a hook then kicked and punched repeatedly, causing shoulders to dislocate), extinguishing cigarettes on their skin and yanking out their fingernails. Ropes were used to pull their legs apart whilst wood turned like a garrotte to effectively paralyze their legs. The men frequently passed out so water was thrown on them until they revived.

Watch Marc Callcutt explain the vital importance of Reprieve lawyers' work in Pakistan.

In Laos, former prisoners held in Phongthong prison, have reported they were intimidated and beaten. They also reported seeing other prisoners having their genitals burned. The 20-year-old Londoner, Samantha Orobator, pregnant at the time, was facing execution in Laos. After a brief "show trial", she was given a life sentence instead of execution due to her pregnancy.

In China, Akmal Shaikh was executed despite his severe mental illness and vulnerability - Watch here. Akmal's tragic death was a shocking failure of the Chinese legal system.

In Japan, the justice system tends to place great reliance on confessions obtained under physical abuse, sleep deprivation and denial of food, water, and toilet facilities. According to a 2005 Amnesty International report:

"Most have been sentenced to death on the basis of confessions extracted under duress. The potential for miscarriages of justice is built into the system: confessions are typically extracted while suspects are held in daiyo kangoku, or 'substitute prisons', for interrogation before they are charged. In practice these are police cells, where detainees can be held for up to 23 days after arrest, with no state-funded legal representation. They are typically interrogated for 12 hours a day: no lawyers can be present, no recordings are made, and they are put under constant pressure to confess. Once convicted, it is very difficult to obtain a re-trial and prisoners can remain under sentence of death for many years."

European nationals

Reprieve can assist foreign clients potentially facing the death penalty abroad. We try to provide assistance to cases at all levels, from trial to clemency. While our original focus was on British nationals, our EC Project allows us to extend this work to nationals of other countries.

Read more about Reprieve's work and cases

Back to Ten myths and facts about the death penalty