This is known as the criminal liability phase. In the second part, called the penalty phase, the jury hears more evidence and decides whether or not to impose the death penalty. Either way, the same judge will handle the entire trial. After being convicted and sentenced, a person has the right to appeal. Death row appeals can be complex, protracted, and expensive, and may be argued in both state and federal courts.
Most states provide lawyers for a condemned person's initial appeal.
However, if that appeal is not successful it may be necessary for death row inmates to find other legal counsel for subsequent appeals. There are networks of lawyers who oppose the death penalty, or who donate their time to such cases. Copyright 1995 by American Lawyer Media, L.P. and Little, Brown and Company, Inc.