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73
Outline for Death Penalty Prosecution Memorandum
| United States Department of Justice United States Attorney District of __________ Date MEMORANDUM FOR THE ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL TO: Christopher A. Wray Assistant Attorney General Criminal Division FROM: [Name] United States Attorney District of _________ [Telephone Number] [Name of Primary AUSA] [Telephone Number] SUBJECT: Request from the United States Attorney for the District of _______ for Authorization To Seek the Death Penalty Against [Defendant(s)] TIMETABLE: [Date of indictment and trial date and/or deadline for filing notice of intent to seek the death penalty.] The United States Attorney for the District of ________ requests the approval of the Attorney General, pursuant to the United States Attorneys' Manual, § 9-10.040, to seek the death penalty against [defendant(s)] for the murder of [victim(s)]. TIMETABLE [Identify date(s) of indictment(s), any deadline established by the trial court for filing a notice of intent to seek the death penalty, and trial date.] PROCEDURAL HISTORY DESCRIPTION OF THE CAPITAL OFFENSE [Identify each eligible charge and the elements of the offense charged.] STATEMENT OF FACTS [Set forth a comprehensive discussion of the facts including, but not limited to: expected testimony of all key witnesses; plea agreements with cooperating witnesses; eyewitness identifications; confessions and admissions; intercepted communications and surveillance videos; physical evidence; and forensic reports and laboratory results.] [If the case involves multiple death penalty-eligible offenses and offenders, you should include a chart of admissible evidence of each offense for each offender.] LEGAL AND EVIDENTIARY ISSUES [Describe any legal and evidentiary issues affecting the prosecution of the capital charges or a punishment hearing on those charges.] THE DEFENDANT(S) [Age, criminal history, etc. Do not include racial or ethnic information here.] CONSULAR NOTIFICATION [If a defendant is a citizen of a foreign country, describe steps taken to adhere to the consular notification requirement of the Vienna Convention. (See State Department website at http://travel.state.gov/consul_notify.html). Otherwise, state that the defendant is a United States citizen only and not a citizen of a foreign country.] THE VICTIM(S) [Age, history, etc. Do not include racial or ethnic information here.] [Include any information concerning the impact of the homicide on the victim's family.] [Include the views of the victim's family concerning the death penalty.] FEDERAL INTEREST [Discuss whether there is exclusive federal jurisdiction or whether concurrent jurisdiction exists with a State or local government. If applicable, discuss issues of foreign or tribal jurisdiction.] AGGRAVATING FACTORS A. Eligibility for Capital Punishment [As a prerequisite to imposing the death penalty, the government must establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that at least one of the four intent requirements is applicable to the defendant's conduct. For Title 18 offenses, these intent factors are set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3591(a)(2); for Title 21 prosecutions, they are set forth in 21 U.S.C. § 848(n)(1). For each defendant, identify the intent factor(s) applicable to each capital offense charged against that defendant and, if not self-evident from the facts, describe why the factor is applicable.] B. Statutory Aggravating Factors [In order for a defendant to be eligible for imposition of the death penalty, the government must also establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, during the sentencing hearing the existence of at least one of the statutory aggravating factors applicable to the charge. Statutory aggravating factors vary with the offense charged and are listed in 18 U.S.C. § 3592(c) and 21 U.S.C. § 848(n)(2)-(12). For each defendant, identify all of the statutory aggravating factors applicable to each capital offense charged and, if not self-evident from the facts, describe why the factor is applicable.] 1. [Statutory Aggravating Factor. (Identify appropriate subsection). Describe why it applies to the specific charge and the evidence in support thereof.] C. Non-Statutory Aggravating Factors [Both the Title 18 and Title 21 capital sentencing provisions allow the government to rely on non-statutory aggravating factors. See 18 U.S.C. § 3592(b)-(d), 21 U.S.C. § 848(h)(1)(B) & (n). Identify applicable non- statutory factors by defendant and offense charged.] 1. Victim Impact Evidence. 2. [Non-Statutory Aggravating Factor. Describe why it applies and the supporting evidence. The factor must be "sufficiently specific to provide meaningful guidance to the jury" and have a "core meaning that a criminal jury should be capable of understanding." Avoid pejorative adjectives that describe the crime as a whole such as heinous, atrocious, cruel, vile, horrible, and inhuman.] MITIGATING FACTORS A. Statutory Mitigating Factors [For each death penalty-eligible offender, identify the statutory mitigating factors that have been raised by the defense or are otherwise suggested by the evidence in the case. The statutory mitigating factors for Title 18 and Title 21 capital sentencing offenses are set forth at § 3592(a)(1)-(7) and § 848 (m)(1)-(9) respectively. Distinguish mitigation by offense if appropriate.] B. Non-Statutory Mitigating Factors [18 U.S.C. § 3592(a)(8) and/or 21 U.S.C. § 848(m)(10) allow the defendant to present evidence of other mitigating factors. Mitigating factors are those aspects of a defendant's character, background or the circumstances of the offense that reflect a reduced personal culpability for the offense or otherwise mitigate against imposition of a death sentence. Identify the non-statutory mitigators raised by the defense or suggested by the evidence.] CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION [State the aggravating factors and mitigating factors found and considered and explain the reason(s) why the aggravating factor(s) sufficiently outweigh the mitigating factor(s) to justify a sentence of death, or, in the absence of a mitigating factor, why the aggravating factor(s) alone are sufficient to justify a sentence of death.] [State request for authorization to seek the death penalty against [DEFENDANT(S)] for the death of [VICTIM(S)].] ___________________ [Name] United States Attorney District of __________ [Date] Attachments Indictment, Proposed Indictment, or Superseding Indictment Proposed Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty Defense Submission(s) Non-Decisional Information Form(s) Under Seal Death Penalty Evaluation Form(s)[updated April 2004] |