Opponents of the death penalty point out that there is a possibility of wrongfully executing an innocent person. Of course, there is a possibility of wrongly sending an innocent person to prison, or wrongly fining him, but they argue that because of the finality and severity of the death penalty, the consequences of wrongful execution of an innocent person are much more serious. . There has never been evidence that an innocent man was executed, although some studies show that in a few cases there is a possibility that a person was wrongly executed. Our justice system takes many precautions to ensure that the rights of the innocent are protected. To understand this, one must examine the complex process required to convict someone of first degree murder and sentence them to death. First, a person is arrested and assigned to a lawyer. Evidence must be presented proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused committed first degree murder. The accused must have been in a clear state of mind. After a five to six week trial, the accused moves on to a second trial to decide whether he deserves the death penalty. Again, a full trial takes place. The defense presents evidence as to why this murderer does not deserve to die. Once that happens and the killer is sentenced to death, their case is automatically appealed to the state Supreme Court. After that, he can file several different appeals. Finally, around ten years later, after having exhausted all legal attempts and all delaying tactics, the murderer was executed. As this complex process shows, every reasonable precaution is taken to ensure that no innocent person is