What does a capital mitigation specialist do?

What does a capital mitigation specialist do?

mitigation specialist noun, a member of a criminal-defense team who gathers detailed background material about the defendant in order to persuade a jury not to impose the death penalty: “Increasingly, lawyers defending death-penalty cases rely heavily on mitigation specialists” (U.S. News & World Report).

What is capital mitigation?

Capital mitigation consists of evidence that is presented in a death penalty trial to obtain a sentence other than death. Its purpose is to lessen the jury’s perceived need, desire, or rationale to return a death verdict.

How do you become a capital mitigation specialist?

Minimum Qualifications: College degree. At least two years of experience as a mitigation specialist, equivalent experience working directly with indigent populations, or postgraduate study in a relevant field (e.g., social work, psychology, anthropology, sociology, journalism, etc.).

What is a mitigation interview?

A mitigation interview aims to put the witness in a position of power. The interviewer may try to guide the con- versation, but must also be prepared to discuss whatever issue is of immediate concern to the witness.

What are some examples of mitigating circumstances?

Common Mitigating Circumstances

• Minor role. The defendant played a relatively minor role in the crime.
• Victim culpability. The victim willingly participated in the crime or initiated the events leading to it.
• Unusual circumstance.
• No harm.
• Lack of record.
• Relative necessity.
• Remorse.
• Difficult personal history.

What is a mitigator used for?

Mitigators, a subset of adverbs of degree, are adverbs or adverbials (groups of words that function as adverbs) that modify adjectives and adverbs to reduce their intensity, making them seem less extreme or powerful. The following are all examples of mitigators: rather.

How do I become a defense mitigation specialist?

What is mitigation specialist?

What is a Mitigation Specialist? Mitigation specialists are not always attorneys. They act as independent experts that work on mitigation in these cases. They are responsible for information, analysis, testimony, and evidence when a judge or jury is trying to decide how to sentence someone in a criminal case.

What happens during mitigation?

Mitigation is the story-telling part of representing the criminal defendant. Where the prosecution talks about the crime and the victim, mitigation talks about the story of the defendant as a person before the crime, after the crime, and in the future.

What factor would a judge consider a mitigating factor?

Mitigating (or extenuating) circumstances are factors that tend to lessen the severity of a crime or its punishment by making the defendant’s conduct understandable or less blameworthy. Mitigating circumstances might include a defendant’s young age, mental illness or addiction, or minor role in the crime.

What is a good mitigating circumstance?

In general terms, mitigating circumstances must be (a) significant (they have more than a minor impact on you), (b) unexpected (you must have had no prior knowledge of the event), (c) unpreventable (there was no reasonable steps you could have taken to prevent the event), (d) relevant (you must be able to link the …

What are intensifiers and Mitigators?

Intensifiers and mitigators are two kinds of adverbs of degree. We use intensifiers to emphasise words or expressions, and mitigators to make the emphasis on these words and expressions not as strong. — “I am absolutely sure he is lying.” = There is a high chance that he is lying, so we use an intensifier.