Prosecutors and Anti-Intellectualism as a Trial Tactic: The Cultural Roots of Scepticism Towards Expertise in Capital Cases

• In Event: Sentencing 7. Emerging Issues in Sentencing Research

Abstract

The paper explores how anti-intellectual sentiments and scepticism towards expertise shape prosecutorial arguments, along with juries’ receptivity to such arguments, in Texas capital cases involving mental incapacity issues. Drawing on unpublished trial records collected from the archives of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the paper shows that Texas prosecutors have historically used trial tactics that advance a common-sense view on mental illness, along with a populist critique of expertise, that encourage the imposition of death verdicts on severely mentally ill defendants seeking criminal exculpation. Moreover, the paper identifies three cultural traits that help explain why these sentiments are so pronounced in Texas proceedings and why they seem to correlate with the regular imposition of death verdicts.

Author

• Chloe Deambrogio, Merton College, Oxford