Professor Shestowsky Comments on Huckaby Case for Record
Professor Donna Shestowsky commented for an article appearing on the front page of the Stockton Record on the likelihood of Melissa Huckaby receiving the death penalty if the Tracy woman is found guilty of the kidnapping, rape, and murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu.
The article, "Will gender spare Huckaby?" explores whether women who commit murder are less likely than men to receive the death penalty. Professor Shestowsky suggested that although jurors may find it difficult to sentence a woman to death, the jury may find Huckaby's alleged crime to be so unusual and upsetting that they will want to invoke the death penalty.
"Jurors may deduce that there's something extra wrong, something that is hard for them to imagine can ever be rehabilitated," Professor Shestowsky said. "Here she killed a little girl who wasn't hers."
Donna Shestowsky is a Professor at UC Davis School of Law, where she teaches Criminal Law, Negotiation Strategy, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and a seminar in Legal Psychology. She was the 2007 recipient of the Law School's Distinguished Teaching Award.