PLAYING THE VICTIM: THE DISCRETIONARY AND DISCRIMINATORY APPLICATION OF VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENTS BY FEDERAL PROSECUTORS IN THE USA A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the Faculty of Humanities 2015 TAMMY KRAUSE SCHOOL OF LAW 1 Table&of&Contents& 1! Introduction 15! 1.1! Overview 20! 1.2! The Legal & Political Context of the Victim Impact Statement 21! 1.3! The Research 27! 1.4! Structure of the Thesis 31! 2! The Prosecutor & the Death Penalty 35! 2.1! The Death Penalty 38! 2.2! The Crime Victim in a Historical Context 41! 2.2.1! British Common Law 43! 2.2.2! American Colonial Law 46! 2.2.3! The Emergence of the Public Prosecutor in the American Legal System 50! 2.3! Today’s American Prosecutor 54! 2.3.1! Federal Prosecutors 55! 2.3.2! Prosecutorial Discretion 59! 2.3.3! Questioning Prosecutorial Power 64! 2.4! Conclusion 68! 3! The Politicisation of the Victim Impact Statement 71! 3.1! The Victims’ Rights Movement 76! 3.2! The President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime 81! 3.3! Victim Impact Statement Discord 87! 3.3.1! Empirical Research 90! 3.4! Conclusion 94! 4! Law on the Books & Law in Action: An Assessment of Federal Law 97! 4.1! Law on the Books: Federal Law and its Subsequent Debates 98! 4.1.1! The Death Penalty and Victim Impact Evidence: Rulings by the United States Supreme Court 98! 4.1.2! Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982 105! 4.1.3! The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 & the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 106! 4.1.4! The Crime Victims’ Rights Act 114! 4.2! Law in Practice: Realities and Shortcomings 118! 4.2.1! Penal Reform on Sentencing 120! 4.2.2! The Victim Impact Evidence Debate 122! 4.3! Conclusion 131! 5! Methodology 132! 5.1! Research Design 138 5.2 Research Development 143 5.3 Development of Research Questionnaire 147 5.4 Collection of Data 149 5.5 Composition of Data 150 5.5.1 Processing the Data 151 5.5.2 Cases with Incomplete Data 153 5.5.3 Limitations of the Questionnaire and Data 154 5.6 Post-CVRA Data 156 2 5.7 Conclusion 158 6! Prosecutorial Inclusion of Victim Impact Evidence in Cases that Resulted in a Plea Agreement 159! 6.1! Cases that Resulted in a Plea Agreement 160! 6.2! Examination of Federal Capital Offences that Resulted in a Guilty Plea 163! 6.2.1! Continuing Criminal Enterprise 163! 6.2.2! Murder Committed During a Crime of Violence or Drug-Trafficking 165! 6.2.3! Carjacking 167! 6.2.4! Murder by a Federal Prisoner 170! 6.2.5! Bank Robbery 171! 6.2.6! Kidnapping 173! 6.2.7! Murder for Hire 174! 6.2.8! First-Degree Murder 176! 6.2.9! Death Resulting from Offences Involving Transportation of Explosives, Destruction of Government Property, or Destruction of Property Related to Foreign or Interstate Commerce 177! 6.2.10! Murder with the Intent of Preventing Testimony by a Witness, Victim, or Informant 179! 6.2.11! Retaliating Against a Witness, Victim, or an Informant 180! 6.2.12! All Other Offences 181! 6.3! Conclusion 183! 7! Prosecutorial Inclusion of Victim Impact Evidence in Capital Cases that Went to Trial 187! 7.1! Examination of Federal Capital Offences that Went to Trial 192! 7.1.1! Prosecutorial Use of Victim Impact Evidence Based on the Case Direction 192! 7.1.2! Prosecutorial Use of Victim Impact Evidence Based Upon the Category of Victim Worthiness 193! 7.1.3! Cases that Did Not Include Victim Impact as a Non-Statutory Aggravator in the Notice of Intent 195! 7.1.4! The Categories of Offences, the Use of Victim Impact Evidence, and the Case Outcome 197! 7.2! Individual Offences that Went to a Federal Capital Trial 200! 7.2.1! Continuing Criminal Enterprise 200! 7.2.2! Murder Committed During a Crime of Violence or Drug-Trafficking 203! 7.2.3! Carjacking 204! 7.2.4! Murder by a Federal Prisoner 205! 7.2.5! Bank Robbery 207! 7.2.6! Kidnapping 207! 7.2.7! Murder for Hire 208! 7.2.8! First-Degree Murder 209! 7.2.9! Murder with the Intent of Preventing Testimony by a Witness, Victim, or Informant 210! 7.2.10! Retaliating Against a Witness, Victim, or an Informant 210! 7.2.11! Other Offences 211! 7.2.12! Other Observations from the Data Analysis 212! 7.3! Conclusion 213! 8! Conclusion 216! 3 9 Bibliography 225 Appendix A 243 Appendix B 245 Appendix C 248 Appendix D 253 WORD COUNT: 82,984 4 TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1 Prosecutorial Use of Victim Impact Evidence in All Adjudicated Federal Capital Cases ............................................................................................................................ 192! Figure 2 Prosecutorial Use of Victim Impact Evidence Based upon the Category of Victim Worthiness in All Adjudicated Federal Capital Cases ................................................ 194! Figure 3 The Adjudication Outcomes and Use of Victim Impact Evidence for Each Category of Offence .................................................................................................................... 196! Figure 4 Prosecutorial Inclusion of Victim Impact Evidence in the Sentencing Phase of All CCE Trials ................................................................................................................... 203! 5 Table 5.1 U.S. Federal Criminal Statutes ............................................................................. 141! Table 5.2 Analysed Time Periods for the US Federal Death Penalty .................................. 144! Table 5.3 US Attorneys’ Notice of Intent to Include Victim Impact Evidence (NOIVIE) in Federal Capital Cases .................................................................................................. 145! Table 5.4 Cases Excluded from Final Body of Analysis…………………………………..153 Table 5.5 Post-CVRA Prosecutorial Use of Victim Impact Evidence Between Cases that Resulted in a Plea and Those that Went to Trial (2004-2009) .................................... 157! Table 6.1 General Comparison of Prosecutorial Use of Victim Impact Evidence Between Cases that Resulted in a Plea and Those that Went to Trial ........................................ 161! Table 6.2 The Case Direction of CCE Capital Offences ...................................................... 164! Table 6.3 The Inclusion of Victim Impact Evidence in CCE Cases .................................... 164! Table 6.4 The Case Direction of Murder Committed During a Crime of Violence or Drug- Trafficking Capital Offences ....................................................................................... 166! Table 6.5 The Inclusion of Victim Impact Evidence in Murder Committed During a Crime of Violence or Drug-Trafficking Cases that Resulted in a Guilty Plea ........................... 166! Table 6.6 The Case Direction of Carjacking Capital Offences ............................................ 168! Table 6.7 The Inclusion of Victim Impact Evidence in Carjacking Cases .......................... 168! Table 6.8 The Case Direction of Prison Inmate Murder Capital Offences .......................... 170! Table 6.9 The Inclusion of Victim Impact Evidence in Prison Inmate Murder Cases that Resulted in a Guilty Plea ............................................................................................. 171! Table 6.10 The Case Direction of Bank Robbery Capital Offences .................................... 172! Table 6.11 The Inclusion of Victim Impact Evidence in Bank Robbery Cases that Resulted in a Plea ........................................................................................................................... 172! Table 6.12 The Case Direction of Kidnapping Capital Offences ........................................ 173! Table 6.13 The Inclusion of Victim Impact Evidence in Kidnapping Cases ....................... 173! Table 6.14 The Case Direction of Murder for Hire Capital Offences .................................. 174! Table 6.15 The Inclusion of Victim Impact Evidence in Murder for Hire Cases that Resulted in a Plea ....................................................................................................................... 174! Table 6.16 The Case Direction of First Degree Murder Capital Offences .......................... 176! Table 6.17 The Inclusion of Victim Impact Evidence in First Degree Murder Cases that Resulted in a Plea ........................................................................................................ 176! Table 6.18 The Case Direction for the Death Resulting from Offences Involving Explosives Capital Offences .......................................................................................................... 178! Table 6.19 The Inclusion of Victim Impact Evidence in the Death Resulting from Offences Involving Explosives Cases that Resulted in a Plea .................................................... 178! Table 6.20 The Case Direction for the Murder of Pre-Trial Witness Capital Offences ...... 179! Table 6.21 The Inclusion of Victim Impact Evidence in the Murder of Pre-Trial Witness Cases that Resulted in a Plea ....................................................................................... 180! Table 6.22 The Case Direction for the Murder of Post-Trial Witness Capital Offences ..... 181! Table 6.23 The Inclusion of Victim Impact Evidence in the Murder of Post-Trial Witness Cases that Resulted in a Plea ....................................................................................... 181! Table 6.24 The Inclusion of Victim Impact Evidence in Additional Capital Cases that Resulted in a Plea .......................................................................................................