Greg Wilhoit Death Penalty Case Study

On June 1,1985, Greg Wilhoit’s wife, Kathy, was found murdered, leaving their two daughters of four and fourteen months old left in the care of their father. The small necessity of having a family was abruptly altered when Kathy was murdered, and even more so when Wilhoit was falsely convicted by evidence of a bite mark, matched to him by two dental “experts.” To worsen the situation, Wilhoit’s lawyer, who once was one of the best, fell into alcoholism, resulting in his not preparing a defense, and showing up to the trial drunk. Wilhoit said, “"The judge told me I was to die by lethal injection. Then he said, 'But if that fails, we'll kill you by electrocution. If the power goes out, we'll hang you. If the rope breaks, we'll take you out back and shoot you” (Vollertsen). Wilhoit was assigned a new attorney for his appeal. After working nonstop for four years and having twelve of the top odontologists in the country review the bite mark, determining it could not possibly be Wilhoit’s, Wilhoit was exonerated of all charges, though he received no compensation for. The

In California, the death penalty costs an estimated $499.7 million per year, while life without parole is $11.5 million per year (Report of the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice). This extreme cost of the death penalty comes from paying for systems that filter the crimes eligible for capital punishment, systems that run the death penalty, and systems that give the defendants a fair trial (Report of the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice). In Los Angeles, each execution costs an estimated $250 million; however, life imprisonment in Los Angeles has a significantly smaller price tag (Rone). Statistically speaking, if the death penalty were removed, it would save a substantial amount of money for California. This outrageous price tag is exactly why capital punishment should be removed from the legal