What people are saying is that just maybe Puckett can create a sympathetic narrative in the minds of the jury panel members. More sympathy = more lenient sentence.
424 posted on Tuesday, December 14, 2010 8:14:06 PM by OldDeckHand;
Once again you two show your utter ignorance of the law and court procedure, and pattern jury instructions. The judge will instruct the panel that they should not be influenced by any sympathy for the defendant, or the defendant’s family in any way be affected by your decision.
Just curious, have you ever served on a Court Martial panel? Have you ever heard matters in extenuation and mitigation? Have you ever discussed those matters among your fellow panel members before determining a sentence?
I have done all of those things and I think that I understand where Lakin’s defense attorney is going with this. I am inclined to agree with his approach.
Goodness, your disregard for military jurisprudence and procedure is breathtaking. Do you understand that there are two elements to the court-martial trial, the findings and the sentencing? Do you understand that in a court-martial, the convicted is given BROAD LATITUDE, almost to the point of unencumbered latitude to present mitigation factors for the jury panels consideration, and has the opportunity to provided both sworn and un-sworn statements?
The jury panel IS IN NO WAY instructed to disregard these statements (or other evidence) because of "sympathy".
“The judge will instruct the panel that they should not be influenced by any sympathy for the defendant, or the defendant’s family in any way be affected by your decision.”
Not in the court martial I sat on...