Most people that I spoke to thought that he was going to get death, but as I said earlier, the federal death penalty is very difficult to achieve:
The death penalty phase is coming up. Although many death penalty advocates will point to this case as the prototypical case for death (the admitted shooting of a cop), I'd be surprised if Wilk gets sentenced to death. The federal death penalty is an almost extinct dinosaur. The standards for being qualified to do a federal death penalty case are so high that the lawyering is always at a very high level, as it was in this case.
Any reaction to the life sentence?
The SDFLA Blog is dedicated to providing news and notes regarding federal practice in the Southern District of Florida. The New Times calls the blog "the definitive source on South Florida's federal court system." All tips on court happenings are welcome and will remain anonymous. Please email David Markus at dmarkus@markuslaw.com
Go-to Johnny could not do what he was sent to court to do. Maybe the herald will update its story. Anyway, I wonder how many inproperly inflammatory comments Johnny made in closing? Maybe jury's are getting wise to his dirty tricks -- or maybe he's not as good as the herald puff piece advertised.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with your comment about the federal death penalty. In fact, the Federal government has been stepping up its efforts to get federal death sentences. There are currently 53 people on Federal Death Row. Just this year, there have been 6 or 7 federal death sentences handed out. You can get the correct information at www.deathpenaltyinfo.org. The result achieved by Matthewman and Rodriguez in the Wilk case was really great.
ReplyDeleteI think you are missing my point, which is that the federal death penalty is so rare BECAUSE of the great lawyering like Matthewman and Rodriguez. They did a masterful job keeping the jury out so long on the guilt phase and getting them to come back so quickly for life.
ReplyDeleteHow many death penalty cases has the US Attorney's office won in the SD Fla?
ReplyDeleteZogby, the US Attorneys Office has lost EVERY Federal Death Penalty case they have tried in the Southern District of Florida going back to the early 90's. And interestingly Matthewman has been involved in almost all of them.
ReplyDeletedon't any of you read the Herald? Before we continue the cheap shots at Johnny K and the Darrow-esque lauding of Matthewman and Rodriguez (both of whom are very good lawyers), let's not forget that some jurors commented that they actually were against the death penalty (something they must not have admitted during jury selection). In that setting, looks like Johnny K and Neil were playing on the wrong side of a stacked deck. Also, I'm no big fan of the death penalty, but I'm not willing to say that anything positive for that murdering monster Wilk is "really great." Let's not forget the tragedy and loss that he caused.
ReplyDeleteTo anonymous at 9:38 AM, you should know that the law does not say that someone who is against the death penalty can't serve on a death penalty jury---just like the law does not say that someone who is in favor of the death penalty can't serve on a death penalty jury. Rather, the question is whether they can set their personal beliefs aside and follow the law. I am sure all of the jurors in Wilk's case had different opinions on the death penalty but were able to follow the law. That's the test---so be careful what you read into the Herald article. Judge Cohn is an excellent and experienced Judge and obviously made sure that the jury was picked correctly.
ReplyDelete938 are you actually surprised at what markus had to say on this topic?
ReplyDeleteafter all the guy has the intellectualy dogmatic consistency of ahmadinejad in iran.