Life and Death Decisions: Prosecutorial Discretion and Capital Punishment in Missouri

86 Pages Posted: 18 Mar 2008 Last revised: 16 Sep 2008

See all articles by Katherine Y. Barnes

Katherine Y. Barnes

University of Arizona Rogers College of Law

David L. Sloss

Santa Clara University - School of Law

Stephen C. Thaman

Saint Louis University - School of Law

Date Written: March 16, 2008

Abstract

This article presents the results of an empirical study of intentional homicide cases in Missouri. The authors created a database of 1046 cases; it includes substantially all of the homicide cases prosecuted in Missouri over a five year period that were initially charged as murder or voluntary manslaughter and that yielded criminal convictions. The authors selected 247 cases from the larger database for more detailed analysis. We analyzed geographic and racial disparities in the rates at which: prosecutors charge first-degree murder versus lesser charges; prosecutors seek the death penalty, not lesser punishments; defendants are convicted of first-degree murder versus lesser crimes; and defendants are sentenced to death, not lesser punishments.

The Missouri statute gives prosecutors very broad discretion. We estimate that at least 76 percent of the cases in the database are death-eligible under the statute. However, prosecutors pursued capital trials in only about five percent of the cases. Thus, death-eligible cases in which prosecutors chose not to pursue capital trials comprise at least 71 percent of the cases in the database. Prosecutors in different counties exercise their discretion differently, leading to substantial variation in charging and sentencing practices in different counties across the state. The analysis of cases by race of victim and race of defendant shows that there are racial disparities in charging and sentencing decisions, but the racial disparities are not as significant as the geographic disparities. The article presents measures of racial and geographic disparities without controlling for individual culpability; a follow-on study will introduce culpability measures as control variables.

Keywords: empirical study, capital punishment, criminal justice, prosecutorial discretion

Suggested Citation

Barnes, Katherine Y. and Sloss, David L. and Thaman, Stephen C., Life and Death Decisions: Prosecutorial Discretion and Capital Punishment in Missouri (March 16, 2008). Arizona Legal Studies Discussion Paper No. 08-03, 3rd Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies Papers, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1107456 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1107456

Katherine Y. Barnes (Contact Author)

University of Arizona Rogers College of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 210176
Tucson, AZ 85721-0176
United States

David L. Sloss

Santa Clara University - School of Law ( email )

500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
United States

Stephen C. Thaman

Saint Louis University - School of Law ( email )

100 N. Tucker Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63101
United States

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