Hi all, I would like to know for how many times someone sentenced to the death penalty can appeal, seeking to change ones lot?
The quality of the appeals offered to the accussed should also be considered. Simply giving him 20 appeals, in which the panel or judge does not have the time or willingness to fairly consider, is not going to be helpful. All too often the appeals process is like a conveyor belt, where the judge just assumes the applicant is guilty, and will qucikly decide accordingly unless the facts point to obvious innocence. This is not how the process should be.
Yes, sure, the quality should also be considered but now I would like to know the number. You may wonder why I ask that. Well, I'm not an American. I'm from the country sandwiched between Russia and EU, sometimes called "the last dictatorship in Europe". It's Belarus. In three days, on the 30th of November, the Supreme Court of Belarus (as the court of first and last instance in this particular case) will sentence two guys, accused of perpetrating a terrorist attack, to the death penalty. You may wonder from where I know they will be sentenced to the extreme penalty and found guilty at all. Well, it's inevitable since the president has already called them terrorists. He called them terrorists right after the guys have been detained. Plus, a week ago he said that the punishment for them must be "the most cruel". Yeah, he's talking about the punishment for those not-yet-sentenced, not-proven-guilty. And we can't imagine here not only any protest against the pressure on the court but also that the court will disobey the president's order. It was an order, of course. Which they're going to fulfill. Many of us, dwellers of "the last dictatorship in Europe", find the terrorist attack itself and the whole process very suspicious. No material evidence, no any third person testimonies. Just some confessions of the accused made during the preliminary investigation. One of the guys renounced his confessions as obtained by intimidation and deception. The second guy simply kept silence through the whole process - the very one who allegedly was the mastermind and the executor of the terrorist attack. Who wanted to "destabilize the situation in Belarus". And he's silent as the grave. As if he wants to be included into the Guiness Book as "the most silent terrorist ever". You may wonder what USA has to do with it. Okay, I'll tell you. A couple of days ago there was a telecast on Belarusan TV about how cool and smart it is that the capital punishment is still in use in Belarus. Look, they said, we're as advanced as the USA, as civilised as they are. Because we apply the capital punishment as they do it. I always debate with their ideological agents in internet, arguing that this comparison is absurd and false. Because it's impossible in the USA that the president fixes who's guilty and prescribes the type of punishment for the defendant. It's impossible that someone gets found guilty without any material evedence and any third person testimonies. It's impossible that someone gets sentenced to the death penalty on the grounds of confessions made during the preliminary investigation and then renounced at the trial. Finally, it's impossible that someone's tried only in one court, sentence of which will be beyond appeal. On the average, it takes just a year here for the condemned from the sentence to the execution. It can be even less if they're refused a right to appeal. That's the reason I'm asking you about the number of appeals a condemned man has right to make in the USA - to stick their noses in the difference. P.S. You may sign the petition against capital punishment for the guys.
The short answer to your question is there is no set number. In the American judicial system, appeals are based on objections made at trial. So, if you are on trial, and your Attorney objects one time to an appealable issue that 1 issue is "preserved" for appeal. If 5 appealable issues come up at trial and your attorney objects to all 5, all 5 issues are preserved for appeal. If your attorney fails to object to an issue, you've lost the issue and it can not be appealed.
