I checked out the list of aggravating circumstances for the death penalty in Indiana, and I found two that perfectly fit my needs:mrkelley23 wrote: My home state might be a good setting. Indiana has the death penalty, has tinkered with it over the years to accommodate the US Supreme Court, but doesn't have an assembly line like Texas. This site has some interesting facts about Indiana and its attitudes toward the death penalty. The last execution in Indiana (in 2009) was a multiple murder committed by a disgruntled ex-husband, and the crime was committed less than 2 miles from my house, so needless to say I was interested in the outcome. In Indiana, there must be aggravating circumstances, and in most cases (just going by memory here, which may be faulty) the circumstances most likely to receive a death penalty are either having multiple victims, especially if young; or if a sex crime is committed in the course of the murder.
Good luck -- it's a fascinating topic, and since I live in a divided household (I'm against the death penalty, my wife is for it) it's one of profound interest to me.
God bless #3, because "lying in wait" was already one of the circumstances of my fictional crime. #9 (c or d) can easily be added on top of it. And this defendant is going to be particularly obnoxious and callous. (It's also not important to the plot that the sentence be carried out, only that it be imposed; it won't matter if the execution happens 20 years later or never.)(3) The defendant committed the murder by lying in wait.
(9) The defendant was:
(A) under the custody of the department of correction;
(B) under the custody of a county sheriff;
(C) on probation after receiving a sentence for the commission of a felony; or
(D) on parole;
at the time the murder was committed.
So thanks! I may still decide not to specify the state in the written text. But I'll write with more assurance knowing there's a real setting in my mind to which I can match the circumstances.