FEDERAL DEATH PENALTY
April 16, 2013
Since 1988, the federal government has taken to trial a total of 190 federal death penalty cases involving 281 defendants in 220 trials. These 281 defendants were culled from a larger pool of 492 against whom the Attorney General had authorized the government to seek the death penalty. Excluding 28 defendants who are awaiting or currently on trial on capital charges, 226 of the remaining 464 defendants avoided trial by negotiated plea, when the government dropped its request for the death penalty without a plea agreement, dismissed charges entirely or the judge barred the death penalty. Thirteen were found not guilty of the capital charge. Two others were declared innocent by the government. Charges were dismissed against a third when grave questions were raised about his guilt. There have been three executions. One death row inmate was granted clemency. In cases where juries actually reached the point of choosing between life and death, they imposed 143 (66%) life sentences and 72 (34%) death sentences. The dispositions of these cases is summarized below:
| Executed |
3 |
| Sentenced to death and now pending appeal |
15 |
| Clemency |
1 |
| Awaiting retrial or resentencing after reversal on appeal |
5
|
| Death sentence vacated and request for the death penalty withdrawn |
4 |
| Life sentences imposed by juries (143) or judge (2) |
145 |
| Acquittal |
13 |
Capital charges dismissed before trial on grounds of actual innocence
|
3 |
| Dismissal of death penalty by judge after death notice filed |
26 |
| Requests for the death penalty withdrawn by the government before trial |
58
|
Requests for the death penalty withdrawn at trial
|
12 |
| Capital prosecution discontinued by government due to plea bargain before trial |
109
|
| Capital prosecution discontinued by government due to plea bargain at trial |
21
|
| Committed suicide / died |
3 |
Lesser included conviction
|
3 |
Awaiting or on trial on capital charges
|
28
|
| Sentenced to death and now pending on 2255 |
39
|
Incompetent after authorization
|
3 |
| TOTAL |
492 |
Of the total of 492 defendants against whom the Attorney General has authorized the government to request the death penalty, 129 have been white, or 26%, 92 Hispanic, or 19%, 19 Asian/Indian/Pacific Islander/Native American, or 4%, 3 Arab, or 1% and 249 African-Americans, or 50%. 363 of the 492, or 74%, of the defendants approved for a capital prosecution by the Attorney Generals to date are members of minority groups. Thirty-five of the fifty-six defendants now on federal death row under active death sentences, or 63% are non-white. 32 or 57% of federal death row were convicted of killing whites.