Dictionary of American Criminal Justice by Dean J. Champion

Author:Dean J. Champion [Champion, Dean J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Law, Reference
ISBN: 9780810854062
Google: w5_jF7YIPzYC
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Published: 2005-01-15T03:52:24+00:00

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Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104, 102 S.Ct. 869 (1982) (Juvenile Law; Death Penalty). On April 4, 1977, Eddings and several other companions ran away from their Missouri homes. In a car owned by Eddings' older brother, they drove, without direction or purpose, eventually reaching the Oklahoma Turnpike. Eddings had several firearms in the car, including rifles that he had stolen from his father. At one point, he lost control of the car and was stopped by an Oklahoma State Highway Patrol officer. When the officer approached the car, Eddings stuck a shotgun out of the window and killed the officer outright. When Eddings was subsequently apprehended, he was sent to criminal court on a prosecutorial motion. Efforts by Ed dings and his attorney to oppose that action failed. In a subsequent two-stage trial, several aggravating circumstances were introduced and alleged, while several mitigating circumstances, including Eddings' youth, mental state, and potential for treatment, were considered by the trial judge. However, the judge did not consider Eddings' "unhappy upbringing and emotional disturbance" as significant mitigating factors to offset the aggravating ones. Eddings' attorney filed an appeal that eventually reached the SC. Although the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the trial judge's ruling, the SC reversed the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. The reversal pivoted on whether the trial judge had erred by refusing to consider the "unhappy upbringing and emotionally disturbed state" of Eddings. The trial judge had previously acknowledged the boy's youth as a mitigating factor. The fact of Eddings' age, 16, was significant, precisely because the majority of justices did not consider it significant. Rather, they focused upon the issue of introduction of mitigating circumstances specifically outlined in Eddings' appeal. They decided Oklahoma could lawfully impose the death penalty on a juvenile who was 16 years old at the time he committed murder. The case raised the question of whether the death penalty as applied to juveniles was "cruel and unusual" punishment under the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. The SC avoided the issue. The Justices did not say it was "cruel and unusual punishment," but they also did not say it wasn't. What they said was that the youthfulness of the offender is a mitigating factor of great weight that must be considered. Thus, many jurisdictions were left to make their own interpretations of the high court opinion.

Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 108 S.Ct. 1880 (1981) (Law Enforcement Officers or Agencies; Confessions). Edwards was implicated in a crime by an accomplice who gave police a taped confession. Edwards was given his Miranda warning. He wanted to strike a deal with police, but he also wanted an attorney. At that point, his interrogation stopped and an attorney was appointed. The next day, two officers visited Edwards in his cell and gave him his Miranda warning again. They asked him if he would talk to them. After indicating that he didn't want to talk with them, he asked if he could hear the taped confession of his accomplice.

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