ce 1977 over 650 people have been executed. Since the death penalty has been reinstated the controversy has escaladed. There have also been numerous court cases that involved the death penalty that struck arguments and different opinions about the death penalty. There has been court cases in which the trail was unfair or not properly handled and also cases in which the accused could not defend him/her self due to lack of good representation because a shortage of money. For example Frederico Martinez-Macias was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering man during a burglary. The attorney appointed to represent Martinez-Macias was paid only $11.84 per hour. His lawyer failed to present an available alibi witness, relied upon an incorrect assumption about the law, and didn't do the research that would have corrected his mistake. He failed to interview and present witnesses who could have testified in rebuttal of the prosecutor's case. Martinez-Macias received competent representation for the first time when a Washington, D.C. firm took on his case pro-bono. A federal district court ordered a new hearing, finding that "the errors that occurred in this case are inherent in a system which pa
             ...