The Times-Picayune's Coverage of Three Incidents Resulting in Capital Trials

• Main Author: Muggivan , Sean Seosop
• Other Authors: Bartheley, Juan J.
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: LSU 2011
• Subjects: Social Work
• Online Access: http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04262011-131720/

Death penalty cases are truly the most unique cases in the criminal justice system. Much research has been done showing that the death qualification process venripersons must undergo results in jurors un-empathetic to the kind of information used to mitigate the death penalty, as well as creating a jury that is more susceptible to pretrial publicity. This study reviews this research and analyzes the content of a New Orleans newspapers coverage of three incidents resulting in capital trials. It was found that, similar to a study done in California that was the model for this studys content analysis, the newspaper relied heavily on law enforcement, prosecutors and prosecutorial lay witnesses, and emphasized details used to seek a guilty verdict and to seek the death penalty. Implications of these findings on capital defense teams were discussed.