The years it takes to carry out a death sentence exact a huge toll – on taxpayers, victims’ families and inmates themselves.

@mandi sentencing is done by the Judge

Not as in USA. Us as in us residents of CO

The Direct Appeal
The direct appeal is an automatic appeal given to everyone sentenced to death. The appeal is made to the state’s highest court in which someone can seek an appeal from a conviction and death sentence. In some states, this appeal is mandatory but in others, it is optional for the defendant.

State Post-Conviction
This is the second stage of the appellate process. Petitions are first filed with the original trial judge, then appealed to any intermediate courts (when applicable), and then finally to the state's highest court. At this stage, the defendant may raise issues surrounding the conviction and sentence that are outside of the record. The defendant can raise issues such as ineffective assistance of counsel, juror misconduct, newly-discovered evidence and Brady violations

@Phil - any good polls to do maybe?

How is public defenders office paid for/funded? Is it all tax dollars?

A petition to the U.S. District Court is the first step in federal post-conviction review. The decision is made by a judge reviewing briefs filed by the prosecution and the defense. The judge may also grant a hearing on new evidence. The judge can dismiss the petition, overturn the conviction, or overturn the sentence.

Permission to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals is not automatic and must be granted by the U.S. District Court or the Court of Appeals. The appeal is limited to issues raised in the U.S. District Court. If the conviction or sentence is overturned in federal review, the state is usually given the opportunity to re-try the defendant. If the U.S. Court of Appeals denies relief, the only option is to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari.

The U.S. Supreme Court is the last resort for defendants appealing their death sentence. The Court, however, only reviews a handful of death penalty cases a year. When a writ of certiorari is denied by the U.S. Supreme Court, the defendant has exhausted his appeals. The only relief available to the defendant is executive clemency.

Executive Clemency
Executive clemency is the power held by a governor or other body to grant relief to a person facing execution. The governor may postpone an execution in order to allow time for further review or may commute a defendant's death sentence to a lesser sentence, such as of life without parole.

Appeals are generally only successful in fewer than 10% of cases and win acquittal in approximately 2 percent of cases. In order to get an appeal, there must be an error in the judge's ruling and that the jury based their decision (in part) due to that particular ruling, such as inadmissible evidence that was admitted in error in trial).

LDennis, it MAY because of the nature of the plea.

@LDennis--every now and then there are some brief exchanges between Holmes and Nelson. However, I think part of their strategy is, "...look insane and completely unreachable to the jury, Mr. Holmes".

why does the defense never speak to Holmes? Are they not allowed to speak to him in the court room?

@ Tammy. This trial is only about societal values of killing another person. Your seeming commitment to sanctioned killing might be your emotional state, not your real feelings. The barbaric practice keeps knowledge and understanding of mental illness in the dark. Killing him means to soothe you, not justice for the defendant and certainly will not encourage compassion or non-violence within our world. Can our fears can be killed by killing another?

What was the final verdict in the evidence from Ms. Mosley? Will she be allowed to talk about her lost baby?

@Sheri Reining .. if our judicial system was set up to ask Sheri Reining if he were insane of not there would not have been a trial. that is not how our system in the United States works. :)

@okx .. bravo

@okx I do not fear him. But I firmly think that he does not deserve to live.

@okx---What Holmes did is barbaric. Death by a needle full of sleepy-time drugs is an extremely humane method for permanently eliminating the worst-of-the-worst from society.

@DocJ... haha no tie here but thanks :)

He did not opt for a bench trial? Huh? My husband had a bench trial (capital case) .. lost me there. sorry ..

Hi Tammy!