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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Second phase begins

Today marks the start of the second phase of Joseph Duncan’s death penalty sentencing trial, the “selection” phase. It’s so called because while the jury decided in the first phase whether he qualified for the death penalty (they said yes), in this phase they decide which sentence to “select” for him. They have only two choices: Death, or life in prison without the possibility of release. In this phase, prosecutors will present evidence about additional, non-statutory aggravating factors, on top of the statutory aggravating factors they proved in the first phase. According to their notice of intent to seek the death penalty, those include victim impact and future dangerousness of the defendant. This is also when the defendant can offer mitigating factors if he chooses to. The second phase is expected to take less time than the first, and could even just be a matter of a couple of days. This is the phase in which Shasta could testify if she chooses to; she has that right as a victim, and is not being compelled to testify. If she does, it’ll be in a closed courtroom; a transcript of her testimony would be provided afterward.

Once this all ends, Duncan still faces other possible death penalty proceedings elsewhere, including Riverside County, Calif., which has charged him with the murder of 10-year-old Anthony Martinez in 1997. Here’s a link to Meghann Cuniff’s Sunday piece in The Spokesman-Review about the other trials Duncan could face next.



Eye On Boise

News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.