TDCAA Community
Defense Witness Question

This topic can be found at:
https://tdcaa.infopop.net/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/157098965/m/8411080391

August 03, 2009, 11:28
Jeromie
Defense Witness Question
We are in the later stages of jury selection on a capital murder trial at the moment. The defense filed an amended motion of expert witnesses which includes two individuals who they labled as "prison experts." An internet search on the two individuals quickly revealed that they are fomer prison inmates who were "wrongfully convicted" and released from prison--one of them a former death row inmate. We assume the defense is going to get them on the stand to try and testify "the jury got it wrong in my case--maybe yall got it wrong too so give him life and not the death penalty." Has anyone ever seen anyone try and do this before? What else might they try and testify to?

Aside from relvance argument plus arguing that they are not actually experts--any suggestions on dealing with it?

They also listed an infamous former death row chaplain on the designation of experts. I assume they will try and get him to testify in generally the same manner.
August 03, 2009, 12:44
JB
Debated that chaplain over the weekend in a public forum on the death penalty. He exaggerated. He also contradicts himself from previous public interviews. Easy to challenge. And, nothing in what he did made him an expert on prisons.
August 03, 2009, 13:15
A.P. Merillat
You could always ask the 2 ex-convicts, since the defense has labeled them as prison experts, whether or not inmates and/or guards are ever killed, beaten, burned, raped, maimed, chunked-on, extorted, bribed or otherwise abused by other convicted felons in the pentientiary. Or whether convicted felons, even capital murderers serving LWOP are absolutely restrained from committing acts of violence in prison. Convicted murderers, as the ex-cons will admit to, if they tell the truth, are able to commit any manner of crimes after going to prison. There is absolutely no way the prison system will prevent an inmate from being dangerous in the future, if he chooses to act that way. Probably the best witnesses to the violence and failures of the prison system (future danger) are people who lived the prison life.
Even that chaplain will have some knowledge of the horrors that are perpetuated inside.
Getting those folks to own up to it all might be a trick, though.