The two defendants in New Hampshire facing the death penalty couldn’t be more different.
There’s John Brooks, a white millionaire who’s charged with plotting and hiring men to kill an associate.
Then there’s Michael Addison, an indigent black man, who is charged with shooting a Manchester police officer.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dan Gorenstein reports on whether money, race and class may shape the outcome of these two cases.
The two defendants in New Hampshire facing the death penalty couldn’t be more different.
There’s John Brooks, a white millionaire who’s charged with plotting and hiring men to kill an associate.
Then there’s Michael Addison, an indigent black man, who is charged with shooting a Manchester police officer.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dan Gorenstein reports on whether money, race and class may shape the outcome of these two cases.
In many jurisdictions around the country John Brooks has a much better chance of beating a death penalty sentence than Michael Addison.
Richard Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington says that’s because if you have money like Brooks does, you certainly won’t have to use lawyers like these.
6:09...sleeping lawyers, drunk lawyers. Lawyers arrestsed for drugs while doing the trial.
The American Bar Association says having the resources to afford quality defense counsel is the single most important factor in proving innocence.
The ABA is neutral on the constitutionality or the appropriateness of the death penalty.
The Association has just completed a four year, eight state study of death penalty systems.
Former ABA President Michael Greco says based on that research defendants don’t often get good lawyers.
1:17 our findings taken as a whole, establish that deplorable death penalty representation is pervasive throughout the states. Not just the eight we have reviewed. Extrapolating to the other states, we can conclude that the administration of the death penalty in the US is shameful.
Attorneys here tend to agree; nationally capital defendants aren’t getting great representation.
That’s because states and counties don’t often pay attorneys very much.
So often, defendants get lawyers with little experience, time, competence, or some combination of the three.
Like most people facing capital charges, Michael Addison relies on whomever the court appoints to represent him.
But every New Hampshire lawyer interviewed for this story agrees the state’s system to provide quality counsel is well above average.
Former state and federal prosecutor, Manchester attorney John Kacavas says even though he didn’t have a choice in who represents him, Michael Addison should feel very lucky.
:39 I know each of his lawyers well. I have tried cases against them, with them they are the best of the best in the public defender’s office.
Praise for the New Hampshire Public Defender lawyers comes from all corners.
Even if the lawyers are experienced and paid fairly that doesn’t mean all is equal when comparing the Brooks defense team to the Addison team.
Not only can millionaire John Brook- who sold his company for 140 million dollars- hire the best lawyers money can buy, but he can also retain the best experts and investigators around.
Addison on the other hand, is at the mercy of the court.
Whenever Addison’s lawyers want to hire a psychiatrist or DNA expert they must get the money from the judge.
Former Public Defender Andy Schulman says
says, hypothetically, if Brooks’ lawyers don’t like an expert for any reason, Brooks could just cut another check.
T.180
10:38...just like if you had a medical condition and you wanted to get a second opinion from a different doctor. Well in the indigent world....you have to go back before that same judge and explain why that expert wasn’t good enough. And since this is a system where you get your needs but not your wants you may have a low probability of getting that second expert.
Former state assistant Attorney General John Kissinger agrees it’s more difficult to operate under a budget like Addison’s lawyers must.
But he says it’s a leap to suggest Addison won’t be able to mount a strong defense.
T.178
26:23 what we owe Michael Addison...is a fair trial and effective representation. That doesn’t mean everyone gets the OJ defense team if they want.
At this point there is nothing to indicate Michael Addison’s lawyers’ requests for funds have been denied.
Attorney John Kacavas says turning down any request in the case would be a silly move.
5:54 it would be foolhardy for the state of NH to subject this young man to a capital trial and not give his defense team every resource they could possibly require that isn’t frivolous. Ultimately these verdicts are difficult to uphold on appeal. It would be a fool’s errand for the state to be pennywise and pound foolish.
But beyond the issue of resources, race is still an issue.
On the national level there are dozens of reports showing racial bias in capital cases.
The statistic most often cited is that jury’s are 3-5 times more likely to give the death penalty if the victim of the crime is white.
In both the Brooks and Addison cases, the victims are white.
But John Holdridge of the American Civil Liberties Union says odds only go up when the crime involves a black person killing a white person.
14:38 statistically, that racial configuration is more likely to result in a death sentence. Far more likely. We don’t know about NH, b/c nobody has gotten the death penalty for years. But I can tell you there was a study in CT, that found racial bias, study in PA that found racial bias, these are the states that are closest to you.
11:34...It’s very tempting to characterize a trial in a particular way. Black guy kills white cop. Rich white guy hires other people. I object to that.
Again, Manchester attorney John Kacavas.
8:33...Juries do their jobs. It’s been my experience that juries take their responsibilities very seriously...And that means following the courts instructions they should not be motivated by fear, sympathy, race.
Attorney John Kissinger says it’s too easy to look at the cases in black and white.
At the end of the day, he says he expects the two juries to scrutinize the facts.
1:25...there is a lot of evidence that Mr. Brooks engaged with others in planning and premeditation setting up the murder. My understanding with Addison case in contrast is there isn’t any evidence of that kind of planning and premeditation. It’s more of a spur of the moment thing. And I think that that is a big difference between the two cases.
Barbara Keshin finds the differences of race and money compelling.
And when you factor in the social class differences the former prosecutor and public defender says there is no doubt Michael Addison is far more likely to get the death penalty than John Brooks.
4:59 when I was a trial lawyer I had this theory the gestalt of trial work. You would see a defendant there. and the jury would see the defendant there....And how those people appear to them I think makes a huge difference on how juries view that case.
6:15 I think jurors looking at Mr. Brooks will see someone that looks like them, has a background a little like them, if not better than them...And with Mr. Addison and they see someone who looks very different than them, has very different experiences than them...his family from what I’ve seen look like nice people, but not look like the jurors. They are black, different class, come from MA.
While there are clearly differences between the two cases, lawyers say Brooks and Addison do have two things in common.
Each has counsel who’ve argued death penalty cases -- the Attorney General’s Office doesn’t. And each will be judged by jurors from a state that hasn’t put anyone to death in nearly 70 years.
For NHPR News, I’m DG.
