For Detailed Information about the Missouri Death Penalty Study, click here.

Life and Death Decisions
Prosecutorial Discretion and Capital Punishment in Missouri

Date: Friday, March 2, 2007
Time: 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Location: Saint Louis University School of Law
William H. Kniep Courtroom
CLE Credit: 7.2

Overview

At this conference, scholars will present the results of a study of 1044 homicide cases in Missouri. Preliminary analysis indicates that approximately 850 to 900 of those cases were death-eligible under the statute. Even so, prosecutors charged death in only 134 cases. Due to plea bargaining, juries were asked to choose between life and death in only 44 cases. Thus, statutory restrictions and jury deliberations explain a fairly small portion of the decisions affecting life and death. Local prosecutors made the majority of those decisions in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. The data suggest that there are significant disparities across counties in the ways that prosecutors exercise their discretion. This conference will examine the data and consider policy options for promoting greater consistency across counties in the implementation of capital punishment.

The conference is free of charge and is co-sponsored by
Washington University School of Law.

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