Colleen Francis

The Bold Idea:

Poor people facing the death penalty typically receive woefully inadequate representation at the trial level due to a lack of effective investigation and mitigation development. A recent study of Louisiana public defenders showed that only one witness was interviewed by the defense per 200 felony clients! Facts change outcomes, both in terms of guilt or innocence, and in terms of a life or death sentence. In an experiment that provided thorough investigation from the point of arrest in 119 New Orleans death penalty cases, the conviction rate decreased dramatically, from 68% to 16%. One hundred defendants were released and charges were dropped. When judges and juries are not fully informed, the adversarial system fails, and devastating mistakes become inevitable. Death rows are populated by young men condemned because of what the jury did not hear because of the paucity of their defense rather than the severity of their crime.

Biography:

Colleen Francis is an experienced capital defense investigator with over nine years of experience currently employed by the Federal Community Defender in Philadelphia, PA. Colleen began her career helping those facing the death penalty in 2000 at the Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center, in New Orleans, LA. In 2002 she was awarded an Echoing Fellowship along with her partner, Melanie Carr, to launch A Fighting Chance. A Fighting Chance was a capital defense investigation office also based in New Orleans, LA which provided direct services to poor people facing the death penalty in Louisiana as well as training, recruitment and supervision of other capital defense investigators in the region.