Audience and Panel Discuss At the Death House Door

Last night's screening of At the Death House Door was well received by the audience as was the ensuing panel discussion with expert panelists. The participating panelists are pictured below from left to right: Rodney Cummings, the Marion County Prosecutor's Office's Director of Trial Advocacy, Professor Crystal Garcia from IUPUI's School for Public & Environmental Affairs and Marion County Chief Public Defender Robert Hill. The panel was moderated by InCASE Executive Director Will McAuliffe (far right).


It was immediately apparent that there would not be ready consensus between the three panelists but rather intensive discussion of the issues surrounding the death penalty. Potential conviction and execution of innocents, DNA evidence, and the human element of capital cases were all brought up by the audience and addressed by the panel. The interplay between the panelists illuminated the nuanced and plentiful complexities of the death penalty. Several times, statistics were challenged as being biased or "one-sided". Ultimately, however, the audience and panelists came away with a greater understanding of the issues and the real need for continued debate and examination of the death penalty as public policy.