Its two major forms are revenge and just deserts. Just deserts also seeks to pay back, but it is based on something more than simply vindictive revenge and supposedly does not contain the emotional element of vengeance. That is, a punishment should fit the crime and should not be more or other than the offender deserves. Allocution a. Allocution is the practice at a sentencing hearing where the defendant has the right to address the court prior to the imposition of sentence. During allocution, a defendant is identified as the person found guilty and has a right to deny or to explain information that is contained in the PSI if his or her sentence is based on it.
Defendants also have the right to plead for a pardon.
They may also attempt to have the sentencing process stopped or explain why a sentence should not be pronounced. B. Appeals 1. The Death Penalty 1. At the state level, death can be imposed only for the crime of aggravated murder and a few other seldom-committed offenses. The only issue the Supreme Court was willing to consider prior to 1968 concerned the means by which the death penalty could be administered after a valid death sentence had been imposed.