Naming the Dragon: Litigating Race Issues During a Death Penalty Trial

Andrea D. Lyon, DePaul University

Abstract

The issue of racial disparity in the administration of the death penalty is a persistent theme in modern capital jurisprudence. Starting with Furman v. Georgia and continuing on to McCleskey v. Zant courts have struggled to come to grips with this issue. This article does not attempt to explore all of the legal ramifications of race and the death penalty, nor does it speak to its political import. Rather, it tackles some of the practical problems facing a capital defense attorney in the courtroom by providing a brief overview of motions practice in this arena by using a federal capital case the author recently tried as an example. The article will focus on two important areas of trial; voir dire and development of the theory of the case.