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: 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. This involves much more than the crime. The defendant's entire life is put under a microscope. Jurors must consider the defendant's upbringing, mental health history and much more. This phase of the case is the "mitigation phase." And there is no totally objective standard for it.