Title: What makes someone eligible for the death penalty? | Yahoo Answers
Headings: What makes someone eligible for the death penalty?
What makes someone eligible for the death penalty?
10 Answers

Content: In some states, the defendant can be sentenced to death even if he was not the actual killer. This has happened, most recently in Texas. Robert Lee Thompson was executed for the killing carried out by his robbery accomplice who was sentenced to life. The standards can be very subjective. If the defendant has access to a good lawyer he won't be facing the death penalty. Practically all defendants who were sentenced to death were too poor to afford a private attorney. The death penalty doesn't apply to the worst crimes, it applies to defendants with the worst lawyers. Apart from this, death penalty cases involve two trials. The first one is to determine guilt or innocence. If there is a conviction, the second trial is to decide if the death penalty should apply.