"I wasn't aware of the "recent changes in the justice system towards coddling 'victim' offenders." I wouldn't be surprised if were true, but could you give me some examples?" -- W. Dwyer
A couple of specific cases off of the top of my head:
Moussaoui's conviction -- 9 out of the 12 jurors voted against the death penalty for Moussaoui because his father was violent and his family had little money. (I don't have the exact source, but I read this in a Times article).
The "Yale Murder" (Richard Herrin) -- Herrin used a hammer to bash in the head of his girlfriend, Bonnie Garland, as she slept. The case was open and shut (he surrendered to the police covered in her blood, and he confessed). He only received 1st degree manslaughter. During the trial the defense team used emotional pull to sway the jury. They emphasized that he was an illegitimate child from a poor background with only one friend -- the victim. Simultaneously, they emphasized that the victim was from a prominent family with money and friends galore. In the end, the jury felt sorry for the defendant. (Peter Meyer wrote a book about this case: "The Yale Murder," Empire Books). (emphasis added)
With a quick Google Search, I found:
--On September 7, 1987, Mr. Doug Lu Chen, a native of China and a New York resident for a year, bludgeoned his wife to death because she was having an affair. One law journal states: "In March of 1989, Mr. Chen, now charged with second-degree manslaughter for the beating death of his wife, was punished with a mere five years probation. Justice Edward K. Pincus of the New York State Supreme Court justified giving Mr. Chen the lightest possible sentence for such a charge — a charge which had already been reduced from second-degree manslaughter — by citing the importance of Chinese culture in proper understanding of the factors that drove Mr. Chen to violence. For Justice Pincus, Mr. Chen’s cultural background provided an important explanation as to why the man became temporarily deranged after hearing of his wife’s adultery and proceeded to murder her." (emphasis added)
--In 1998, James Leslie Karis Jr. was convicted of murder, rape and kidnapping (two victims). His sentence was overturned and held over for a new sentencing phase because his attorney had not been allowed to offer evidence of his abusive childhood. "Quoting a 1990 U.S. Supreme Court opinion, the judge (Moulds) wrote: "There is a 'belief, long held by this society, that defendants who commit criminal acts that are attributable to a disadvantaged background or to emotional and mental problems, may be less culpable than defendants who have no such excuse. . . Thus, it is reasonable to expect that some jurors would have found this evidence especially important in understanding a defendant who had acted violently toward women." (emphasis added) --(July, 2007) Brandon Austill was sentenced to 7 1/2 to 30 years for beating his infant daughter (the evidence showed that he repeatedly struck the baby's head against a bathroom sink, broke her leg, and used a cattle prod to shock her). Why was this man's sentence so lenient when he faced thirty counts of felony aggravated assault and he confessed prior to trial? Because he grew up in squalid conditions that were accompanied by abuse. He pled guilty, but he pled guilty by reason of mental defect. According to a psychologist, Austill suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, stemming from abuse suffered as a child. Austill will receive psychiatric care in prison. "This is probably your last chance," Somerset County Judge John Cascio told Austill at sentencing. (emphasis added) More generally, you have new defense strategies like the "Self-Victimization Defense." This defense states that the defendant's anger at his social station mitigates his crimes. Although this defense isn't commonly successful, it has been used successfully in a couple of cases in California and the District of Columbia. Another new defense strategy is the "Urban Survival Syndrome." This defense argues that the defendant lives in a violent area, therefore he is justified in committing violence. This defense split a Texas jury 11-1 in 1994.
(For information on these defenses and other "emerging defenses," http://faculty.ncwc.edu/TOCONNOR/405lect02.htm).
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