If you are represented by the FPD, any investigative work assignments come through the attorney assigned to your case.  S/he will request investigative assistance with any investigative work that needs to be done on your case.  There is no process for assigning a FPD investigator to your case without the appointment of a Deputy FPD to represent you first.

If you are appointed a private defense attorney, s/he may seek authorization from the court to hire an investigator to do any necessary investigative work on your case.

An indigent individual indicted for a federal death eligible crime is entitled to the appointment of  two defense attorneys.  One of these attorneys must be “learned in the law of capital crimes.” See also 18 USC  §3005.  Usually being “learned” means an attorney who has experience in capital trials, appeals or post-conviction work in either the federal or state courts.  In addition to “learned counsel”, there are minimum standards required of any other lawyer appointed to a capital case.  In some capital cases more than two lawyers may be assigned to work on behalf of the defendant.

In addition to the federal law regarding the appointment of lawyers in a capital case, the American Bar Association (ABA) sets out guidelines for the appointment and performance of defense counsel in death penalty cases and well as the qualifications of other members of the defense team.  See also ABA Guidelines 4.1, 5.1

Most of the criminal cases charged as death eligible are in state court.  There are some specific crimes spelled out in the law that are required to be charged as federal death eligible cases, for example the murder of certain government officials or certain acts of terrorism.  Some crimes happen where there is a possibility of both state and federal jurisdiction over the case.  Generally the federal statute will trump the state law.  However, in some instances the crime may be split up between the two jurisdictions.  For example when a one person is murdered in one state while another victim is transported to a different state and killed there, the first murder could be charged as a state crime, while the transportation and murder of the second victim would be charged as a federal crime.

The federal death penalty was used sparingly up until the mid-20th century.  The death penalty was found unconstitutional in 1972 in Furman v. Georgia and was not imposed until the Anti-Drug Abuse Act in 1988.  The scope of the federal death penalty was greatly expanded with the passage of the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994. 

The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 authorizes the death penalty for a defendant convicted in federal court of a murder committed while engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise.  The Act requires the government to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intended to commit the murder and that certain aggravating factors, listed in the Act, apply to the charged offense.  The jury must be unanimous in finding that an aggravating factor exists.  The Act also gives the defendant the right to present evidence of any mitigating factors to be considered; the jurors do not have to be unanimous in the finding of any mitigation factors.  These two sets of factors are to be weighed before the jury decides to impose a death sentence.  

The Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 expanded federal law to make several enumerated crimes death eligible.  The Act authorizes the death penalty for an individual in any state or territory who commits a particular offense, for example murder for hire, sexual abuse resulting in death, and kidnapping resulting in death. 

Most of the provisions governing capital cases are set out in 18 U.S.C. § 3005, 18 U.S.C. § 3591 and 21 U.S.C. § 848 (e)-(q).

The Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel Project was set up by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts in the early 1990's.   The Project was created for the benefit of CJA panel attorneys, federal defenders and the court and serves as a national resource bank of information for anyone appointed in a federal capital case.  The Project monitors all federal death penalty cases and consults with appointed counsel in those cases throughout the life of a capital case - from the indictment, through the DOJ authorization process, developing mitgation, working with experts and maintaining sample pleadings on a range of recurring issues in federal capital cases. 
The Project has a website that is full of invaluable information at www.capdefnet.org.
Information on the website is designed for both federal capital defense and post-conviction habeas counsel. 

There is a national mitigation coordinator, Russell Stetler, one of the resources available through the FDPRCP.  He is best reached at russell_stetler@fd.org.  In addition, you can call your local federal defender office and ask for recommendations for a qualified mitigation specialist.

The ABA Guidelines indicate victim outreach by the defense team is an important consideration.  For purposes of plea discussions, defense counsel should consider and be able to explain to their client the concerns of the victim family when counsel is working to reach a plea agreement.  [ABA Guideline 10.9.1]  In addition the Guidelines indicate approaches to the victim’s family should be undertaken carefully; seeking assistance of a defense victim liaison may be necessary in that effort.  See also United States v. Kreutzer, 59 M.J. 773, 783-784 (Army Ct. Crim. App. 2004).

We recommend that capital defense counsel read the article in Hofstra Law Review, Volume 36, No. 3, Spring 2008, Understanding Defense-Initiated Victim Outreach and Why It Is Essential In Defending a Capital Client, for a more detailed explanation of the work.  

Mickell Branham is the National Victim Outreach Coordinator, another resource available through the FDPRCP and can be reached at mickell_branham@fd.org.  She is able to make referrals to qualified defense-initiated victim outreach people for capital trial and capital habeas work.

Your son or daughter will be transferred from the county jail where s/he has been held during trial to death row.  Death row for men is at California State Prison - San Quentin;  death row for women is maintained at California State Prison - Chowchilla.  Once s/he has arrived at death row and completed intake processing s/he can receive mail and depending on his/her classification can also receive scheduled visits.  Go to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation website at www.cdcr.ca.gov for information on visiting, mailing addresses, sending money and quarterly packages.

The California Supreme Court maintains a panel of attorneys who are qualified for appointment to capital appeals and capital habeas corpus proceedings.  The qualifications are set forth on the California Supreme Court website at Rules of Court 76.6. 

You can get more information about capital appeals and the habeas corpus process by visiting the websites for the Habeas Corpus Resource Center at http://www.hcrc.ca.gov or the California Appellate Project at www.capsf.org.