Cop Killers and the Death Penalty: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of North Carolina Capital Sentencing (1977-2009)

• In Event: Capital Punishment: Sentencing Dilemmas and Concerns

Abstract

The present study employs both quantitative and qualitative analyses of case-file materials for the population of capital murder trials in North Carolina (1977-2009) to examine the effect, if any, of killing a law enforcement officer on capital sentencing decisions. The results are somewhat unexpected

Authors

• Bernadette J. Stewart, University of South Florida

• John Cochran, University of South Florida

• M. Dwayne Smith, University of South Florida

• Beth Bjerregaard, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

• Sondra Fogel, University of South Florida