Wrongful Death and Executions
Execution is the end result of capital punishment. Oftentimes you will hear of inmates on death row in the news. This is known popularly as the death penalty, in which criminals are punished with the most harsh sentence a court can mete out – an execution. However, some people on death row are innocent.
When the state ends the life of an innocent person, this is known as wrongful execution. With the modern advances of DNA testing, there have been at least fifteen inmates on death row who have been exonerated of their crimes and death sentences. There are also numerous cases of misconduct on the part of prosecutors, and thus some people have been acquitted of their crimes because of weak cases against them. Other cases involve proof of innocence or serious doubt about the guilty party, but inmates are still sentenced to death. In fact, the U.S. has posthumously pardoned many criminals for past crimes. But unfortunately, those criminals were executed without a chance for another trial.
Some potential causes for wrongful conviction and execution are:
- Incompetent lawyers who cannot properly defend the accused party.
- Prosecutorial misconduct.
- False identification.
- DNA testing only available in some capital cases.
- Intentional covering up of crucial evidence.
- Botched autopsies by unqualified technicians.
Contact Us
If your loved one has been wrongfully executed, you may have grounds for a wrongful death suit. Contact the Pennsylvania wrongful death lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 610-667-7511 to learn more about your legal options.