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December 31, 2004

Judge Gilmore to instruct jury on Justice Dept. refusal to disclose death penalty analysis

Following on the matters addressed in this earlier post, U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore ruled on Thursday that she will instruct the jury regarding the government's failure to comply with her prior order to disclose the basis of its decision to seek the death penalty against one of the defendants in the criminal case in Houston against against the two remaining defendants accused in the deaths of 19 illegal immigrants who were being smuggled into this country in the back of a blistering hot trailer.

Houston defense attorney Craig Washington accused the government of singling out one of the defendants for the death penalty because he is black. During a prior hearing in the case, Washington presented evidence that this case was the only one in which the government had sought the death penalty out of almost 70 illegal smuggling cases. Prosecutors denied that race was a factor, pointing out that they did not seek the death penalty for the other black defendant in the case and that the basis of the government's decision to seek the death penalty is subject to executive privilege.

I have not researched either the merits of Judge Gilmore's ruling or the government's claim of executive privilege in this matter. Nevertheless, Judge Gilmore's order appears to be nothing more than a mechanism to ensure a full and fair trial of all issues in a death penalty case. Her refusal to acquiesce quietly to the Justice Department's refusal to comply with her order is refreshing. Judges in the Enron-related criminal cases -- please take note.

Posted by Tom at December 31, 2004 6:28 AM

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