美国国家公共电台 NPR--Florida is poised to change the way it imposes the death sentence in trials

Florida is poised¹ to change the way it imposes the death sentence in trials

Transcript²

Florida is poised to change how it imposes the death penalty following a jury's decision to recommend life without parole for the gunman who killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

During a two-day hearing that starts this morning, a Florida judge hands down a life sentence to the gunman who killed 17 people at a Parkland high school. The jury rejected the death penalty for Nikolas Cruz. That decision triggered outrage³ among families of the victims. And Florida is now likely to change the way it sentences defendants⁴ to death. NPR's Greg Allen reports.

GREG ALLEN, BYLINE⁵: Over the three months of the trial, defense⁶ attorneys and prosecutors⁷ agreed on one thing - the murders Nikolas Cruz committed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 were horrific. Cruz, a former student at the school, pleaded guilty to killing⁸ 14 students and three adults with an AR-15-style rifle and wounding 17 others. The defense argued that because of his mother's alcohol and drug abuse when she was pregnant with him, Cruz is mentally impaired⁹ and never received proper diagnosis¹⁰ or treatment. That argument convinced at least one juror Cruz should receive a sentence of life in prison without parole. Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime was one of those killed, said Cruz should have received the death penalty.

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FRED GUTTENBERG: I don't know how this jury came to the conclusions that they did today, but 17 families did not receive justice.

ALLEN: It's a view shared by families of the other victims and others who followed the trial, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who's running for reelection and spoke¹¹ at a recent gubernatorial debate.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RON DESANTIS: I think he deserved the ultimate punishment. When you murder in cold blood 17 innocent people, there's no other punishment that meets the gravity of that crime. And to have one juror holdout on that was a travesty¹². So, yes, I'm going to ask the Florida legislature to amend¹³ that statute¹⁴.

ALLEN: Until 2016, Florida only required a vote by a majority of jurors - as few as seven - to recommend a sentence of death. After the U.S. Supreme¹⁵ Court struck down Florida's capital sentencing system, lawmakers began requiring the approval of 10 jurors for a death sentence. The Florida Supreme Court later said the jury decision for death must be unanimous, and the legislature complied. Three years later, though, a new conservative Florida Supreme Court, with members appointed by DeSantis, reversed that earlier decision and said a unanimous verdict was no longer required. But since then, the legislature hasn't taken any action. Stephen Harper, a longtime public defender¹⁶ in capital cases and professor emeritus¹⁷ at Florida International University, expects that because of the Cruz trial, the state will now return to that earlier standard.

STEPHEN HARPER: If you didn't get 10 jurors recommending death, then it was a life sentence. My guess is that that's what the governor would actually advocate, to go back to what the legislature had previously¹⁸ set as the limit.

ALLEN: The verdict of life in prison for the person responsible for a mass shooting, while unpopular with many, is not without precedent¹⁹. In 2015, a jury in Colorado handed a similar sentence to the person who killed 12 people and injured dozens more in a shooting at a movie theater in Aurora²⁰. Robert Dunham, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, says in both cases, mental illness was raised as a mitigating²¹ factor.

ROBERT DUNHAM: In these really, really horrific murders, you are going to see very significant mitigating evidence, and it is an indication that the system did what it is supposed to do.

ALLEN: Currently, there's just one state, Alabama, where the vote of a majority of jurors is all that's required for a death sentence. In the federal system and every other state where jurors determine the sentence, a unanimous verdict is required. Abandoning the requirement for a unanimous jury verdict for capital punishment would once again make Florida an outlier and, according to Durham, make it more likely innocent people will receive the death penalty. Florida has had more people on death row exonerated²² than any other state. And the reason, he maintains, is that for decades, it didn't require jury unanimity²³. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.

1 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

4 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 impaired   

adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Much reading has impaired his vision. 大量读书损害了他的视力。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His hearing is somewhat impaired. 他的听觉已受到一定程度的损害。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 travesty   

n.歪曲，嘲弄，滑稽化

参考例句：

• The trial was a travesty of justice.这次审判嘲弄了法律的公正性。
• The play was,in their view,a travesty of the truth.这个剧本在他们看来是对事实的歪曲。

13 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

14 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

15 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

16 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

17 emeritus   

adj.名誉退休的

参考例句：

• "Perhaps I can introduce Mr.Lake Kirby,an emeritus professor from Washington University?"请允许我介绍华盛顿大学名誉教授莱克柯尔比先生。
• He will continue as chairman emeritus.他将会继续担任荣誉主席。

18 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

19 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

20 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

21 mitigating   

v.减轻，缓和( mitigate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Are there any mitigating circumstances in this case ? 本案中是否有任何情况可以减轻被告的罪行？ 来自辞典例句
• A sentencing judge is required to consider any mitigating circumstances befor imposing the death penalty. 在处死刑之前，要求量刑法官必须考虑是否有任何减轻罪行之情节。 来自口语例句

22 exonerated   

v.使免罪，免除( exonerate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The police report exonerated Lewis from all charges of corruption. 警方的报告免除了对刘易斯贪污的所有指控。
• An investigation exonerated the school from any blame. 一项调查证明该学校没有任何过失。 来自辞典例句

23 unanimity   

n.全体一致，一致同意

参考例句：

• These discussions have led to a remarkable unanimity.这些讨论导致引人注目的一致意见。
• There is no unanimity of opinion as to the best one.没有一个公认的最好意见。