Many cases have shown that incompetent juries can injure the verdict of issuing the death penalty.

On December 7th, 1984, Benny Lee Chaffin kidnapped, raped, and murdered a 9-year old Springfield, Oregon girl. He had been convicted of murder once before in Texas, but  not executed. The same jury that convicted him for killing the young girl refused to sentence him to death because two of the twelve jurors said they could not determine whether or not he would be a future threat to society.
 

• Nearly seven of every 10 capital cases across the country contained major errors. In North Carolina, the error rate was determined to be 71%.
• Kentucky, Maryland, and Tennessee have error rates of 100%.
• More than four of every five cases reversed on appeal resulted in sentences less than the death penalty.
• Seven percent of those cases resulted in non guilty verdicts, including three death row inmates in North Carolina.
• More than 400 people have been wrongfully convicted across the country and 23 have been executed.

Supporters of the death penalty would say that when an innocent man is set free then it proves that the system works. With the lengthy court appeals the chances of sending a innocent man to death are slim to none.
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