Costs News and Developments: 2004
Kansas Death Penalty Advisory Committee Releases Report
A recent report issued by the Kansas Judicial Council Death Penalty
Advisory Committee examines the state's
application of capital punishment and the hefty price
tag of seeking the death penalty. The Committee
found that since Kansas reinstated the death penalty in 1994 there were 44
potential capital cases involving minority victims. However, none of these cases resulted in a death sentence. Of the eight defendants in Kansas who did
receive death sentences, all of their victims
were white. Of those eight cases, six originated in
Sedgwick County and only two cases were from the entire rest of
the state.
This disparity may be partially due to the high costs
associated with capital punishment. The report noted that the cost of
prosecuting a death penalty case is generally quite high because each
side is more likely to employ costly expert witnesses and subsequent
appeals are financially draining. The Committee concluded that larger
and more populous counties in Kansas - such as Sedgwick County - can
more readily absorb the cost of death penalty litigation because of a
larger tax base.
In addition to the issues of race, costs, and geographic
disparity, the panel also examined issues such as innocence,
deterrence, and the state's ability to meet the needs of all murder
victims' family members. (Report of the Kansas Judicial Council Death
Penalty Advisory Committee on Certain Issues Related to the Death
Penalty, November 2004) Read
the Report. See also, Race
and Costs.
$ Palm Beach Post Editorial: Plea Bargain Underscores the Arbitrariness of the Death Penalty
While applauding a life-sentence plea bargain arranged by Palm Beach
County's State Attorney in an especially heinous murder, the Palm
Beach Post said the state had "forfeit[ed] the moral standing to execute anyone else."
The State Attorney said that he agreed to let the defendant plead
guilty to killing 5 people because the life-without-parole sentnece will bring finality. The Post noted: "The state saves not only the cost
of a trial; the victims' relatives - who supported the deal - do not
have to relive the horror. The state will save more by avoiding years
of appeals; all credible research shows that incarceration is far
cheaper than litigation. Most important, [the defendant] never again will
threaten the public."
. . .
"But," the paper further stated, "[i]t is impossible to craft a law
that reserves capital punishment for only a certain class of criminal.
Because Florida and the 37 other states where the death penalty is
legal won't accept that fact, governments waste untold millions each
year on post-conviction appeals over whether the facts of the case
support the ultimate punishment."
(Palm Beach Post Editorial, December 16, 2004). See Editorials
and New
Voices. See also
Victims.
$ California Plans $220 Million Death Row While Inmates Wait 4 Years to Start Appeal
California already has the largest death row in the country and is now
planning to build a new $220 million facility designed to house more
than 1,400 death row inmates. State Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald
M. George said that the large death row reflects the consequences of a
careful
appeals process that is designed to ensure due process for those facing
execution. "The virtues of the system
also represent its vices because it does end up causing a lot of
delay," stated the Chief Justice, a former prosecutor who notes that
the leading cause of death on California's death row is old age. Currently, there is a four-year wait for inmates to be assigned a lawyer to begin their first appeal and 118 people on death row
have not yet been assigned a lawyer. "We take great care to try and appoint competent counsel....I could take
care of that backlog in two days if I were not following the very
rigorous standards that California has established."
Since the state reinstated capital punishment in 1977, it has
carried out 10 executions. There are 641 people currently on the state's death row. (New York Times, December 18, 2004). See Representation.
$ New Jersey Governor Calls for Death Penalty Moratorium
New Jersey Governor Richard Codey (pictured) proposed a moratorium on
executions until a study commission could determine whether the
state's death penalty system is fair and cost effective. The governor
announced his moratorium proposal as the legislature began considering
a bill to initiate the study. "The governor
does not think it makes sense to do a study without a moratorium. So he
does support a moratorium right now, and he supports it for 18 months
to two years," Codey's spokeswoman, Kelley Heck, stated. Codey, who is
also President of the New Jersey Senate, called for the halt to
executions as he stalled a Senate vote on legislation that would have
created a 13-member death penalty study commission. The bill would
create a panel to determine whether the death penalty is consistent
with "evolving standards of decency," whether it is discriminatory, and
whether it is worth its cost - both in money for lawyers and the risk
of executing an innocent defendant. Senator Shirley Turner, sponsor of
the study commission legislation, echoed Codey's call for a moratorium
and added, "If we're going to study the death penalty, I think we
should not allow anyone to be executed until the report is in." New
Jersey has not executed anyone in 41 years, and executions in the state
are currently on hold as the Department of Corrections devises new
lethal injection rules. The current execution procedures were struck
down in February because they shrouded executions in secrecy and made
no provisions for halting one once it was started, even in the event of
a last-minute
reprieve. (Star-Ledger, December 7, 2004).
$ Indiana Spends Millions on Death Penalty But Prosecutors Unsure of its Future
According to a recent news report, Indiana taxpayers spend millions of
dollars to send dozens of people to death row, but more than half of
those sentenced have had their convictions overturned or their
sentences vacated. In addition, the rising costs of the death penalty
have resulted in a more arbitrary application of capital punishment due
to funding constraints in certain rural counties, a fact that has many state
residents questioning the punishment's true value. Defense expenses in
capital trials can cost the state more than $500,000 per case, and that
figure does not reflect the millions of additional dollars spent to pay
for prosecutorial expenses, appeals, and incarceration costs. In small
Indiana jurisdictions such as Pike County and Posey County, those
financial figures and staffing shortages contributed to prosecutors' decisions not to seek the death penalty. Posey
County prosecutor Jodi Ubelhack, who recently faced three
death-eligible cases, noted, "We only have two prosecutors that handle
criminal matters. If you have 3 death penalty cases, then nothing else
gets handled." Clark County prosecutor Steven Stewart said that
high costs could eventually lead to eliminating capital
punishment. "Once the judges accept that and start spending that kind
of money on every death penalty case, it's only a matter of time before
the public at large says it's not worth it," Stewart said. (WFIE News,
November 20, 2004)
$ Editorials Note Growing Unease With Death Penalty
Editorials in papers around the country have
noted that many Americans are rethinking the death penalty because it
is deeply flawed. Among the recent editorial observations were the
following:
New Jersey's Star-Ledger
Fewer people are being given the death
penalty in the United States, according to the Justice Department,
which says such sentences are at a 30-year low. Last year, the number
of people who were sentenced to die totaled 144.
While these numbers are heartening in that they reflect a decrease in
executions, they ought to cause states to rethink the wisdom and
fairness of the death penalty altogether.
. . .
Getting sentenced to death has become just what the U.S. Supreme Court,
in its landmark 1972 Furman vs. Georgia ruling, said it should not be
-- a punishment so "wantonly and so freakishly imposed" that it is like
getting struck by lightening.
. . .
Whatever one's moral views on the death penalty, there are compelling
reasons to consider getting rid of it.
Cost is one. It takes from $2.3 million to $3.2 million to bring a
death prosecution in New Jersey.
Human error is another reason. In recent years, more than 100 death-row
inmates nationwide have been exonerated, mostly using DNA evidence.
The question is whether anybody is willing to kill this badly broken
system. (Star Ledger Editorial, November 20, 2004).
Florida's Daytona Beach News-Journal
Over the past 10 years, Americans have been forced to face reality:
Death penalty laws are deeply flawed.
More than 100 death row inhabitants have been freed after their
convictions were overturned, many of them exonerated by DNA evidence
that conclusively proves their innocence. Years, sometimes decades,
pass between conviction and execution. And executions gruesomely
botched have many recoiling in horror.
. . .
Why are Americans turning away from this vestige of frontier justice?
One possible explanation is the growing international pressure on the
United States as the last industrialized nation to so enthusiastically
apply the death penalty. But a more likely theory hits closer to home.
The continuing spate of stories about inequities in the way the death
penalty in administered has forced many to consider whether the notion
of retributive justice is itself fundamentally flawed.
The myth that capital punishment is a deterrent has been exploded.
Death penalty proponents argue that over the past 10 years, the number
of executions increased while murder rates have decreased. But that's
true in states that don't have the death penalty -- and on average,
their murder rates are dropping faster than they are in the states that
still execute, the Death Penalty Information Center reports.
The other likely contributer is the number of death sentences
overturned, a statistic that throws the permanent, irrevocable nature
of the death penalty into sharp focus. As DNA evidence has freed
increasing numbers of inmates, the number of Americans who say they
favor the death penalty has remained fairly stable -- but the number of
Americans who say they oppose the death penalty has steadily increased.
While 60 to 70% of Americans say they approve of the death penalty, the
number drops to about half when they are asked to choose between death
and life in prison without parole.
This growing uneasiness about the death penalty is already bearing
fruit. Last month, President Bush signed the Justice For All Act, which
(among other things) provides more hope to inmates awaiting DNA tests
that could prove their innocence. The act does not go far enough -- it
limits access to other scientific tests, for example -- but it will
provide $25 million to states over the next five years to conduct
post-conviction DNA tests.
Yet too many death penalty inmates are still tried, convicted and
sentenced in states that deny them adequate legal representation.
Without a competent lawyer at trial, the accused lose much of their
ability to appeal wrongful convictions.
. . .
A better solution -- the right solution -- is to recognize the death
penalty for what it is -- inefficient, ineffective, expensive, slow,
unjust and morally reprehensible -- and abolish it now, rather than
wait for it to wither away. (Daytona Beach News-Journal Editorial,
November 17, 2004).
Colorado's Denver Post
It's probably too early to call it a
radical change, but there's a flicker of hope that American society is
coming to think of capital punishment as a cruel anachronism. . . .[A] new report has
found that the number of death verdicts hit a 27-year low last year.
Possible factors include the exoneration of about 100 death-row inmates
and the fact that jurors now have the option of imposing life without
parole in 47 states.
. . .
Despite support in public-opinion surveys, jurors seem less
enthusiastic about capital punishment. "I'm not surprised at the
reluctance on the part of American juries to impose the death penalty,"
said U.S. District Judge John Kane, who speculated that some
death-penalty jurors may hesitate because of news reports and
television shows about errors in death-penalty cases.
. . .
Over time, the Supreme Court has narrowed application of the death
penalty, banning execution of the mentally retarded, for example. Early
this year, the court agreed to re-examine execution of defendants who
were juveniles when their crimes were committed.
The Post has opposed capital punishment since 1965. Perhaps growing
antipathy for actually imposing the death penalty will someday lead the
court to conclude that it has truly become a "cruel and unusual
punishment" and ban it altogether. (Denver Post Editorial, November 21,
2004).
See Editorials.
See also Innocence,
Deterrence,
and Representation.
$ California Bar Association Urges Death Penalty Moratorium
A group of 450 attorneys participating in the Conference of Delegates
of the California Bar Association has urged a moratorium on the death
penalty in California until the state reviews whether capital
punishment laws are enforced fairly and uniformly. "If you make a
mistake, it's not like you can go back and correct a mistake because
the person is dead," said Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney
Danette Meyers, supporter of the measure and a member of the Bar
Association that represents prosecutors, criminal defenders and civil
attorneys from dozens of bar groups throughout the state. The group
called on California lawmakers and Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggar to
impose a two-year moratorium on executions and to create an independent
committee focusing on race, the reliability of convictions and whether
the condemned had adequate legal representation. It also requested an
inquiry into the financial cost of capital punishment and whether
capital punishment is imposed too often. Executions are rare in
California even though it has the nation's largest death row of 640
inmates. One reason for the delay is that more than a quarter of those
on California's death row have not been given a lawyer for their first
and mandatory appeal to the state's Supreme Court. The state has
carried out 10 executions since the death penalty resumed in 1976.
(Associated Press, October 17, 2004) See Representation, Race,
and Innocence.
$ Report Analyzes Washington Death Penalty System
A new report from the Washington Death Penalty Assistance Center
reviews the efficiency of Washington State's death penalty
system. The report includes an overview of Washington's statute
and an explanation of the differences between capital and non-capital
cases, demonstrating why capital cases require significantly greater
resources. The authors report that:
o Of
death penalty cases that completed the appeals process, 81% were
overturned after errors were found. When those cases were tried a
second time, not one of the inmates received a death sentence.
o For cases between 1999 and 2003, on average a death penalty trial
cost twice ($432,000) as much as a non-death penalty murder trial
($153,000).
o From the arrest of the defendant through sentence, death penalty
cases take longer (20 months) than non-death penalty cases (15
months). Appellate review for non-death penalty cases lasts an
average of two years; death penalty reviews last seven.
o Since the death penalty was reinstated in Washington, four cases
resulted in executions; three of those four inmates gave up part of
their appeal. Only one case resulted in an execution after all
review was exhausted, which took 11 years.
The reversals resulted from a variety of errors, including errors by
trial judges, prosecutors, and defense lawyers. The reversals
were not attributable to one identifiable factor, and the authors
concluded that they are due to systemic problems with capital
punishment. They note that Washington State has spent millions of
dollars, numerous years, and a significant amount of resources on this
flawed system.
Mark A. Larranaga and Donna Mustard, Washington's Death Penalty System:
A Review of the Costs, Length, and Results of Capital Cases in
Washington State (2004) Read the report.
$ New Voices: Time to Re-Think the Death Penalty
An op-ed in Oregon's Albany Democrat
Herald called on the state to re-think its reliance on the death penalty:
20 years after voters in Oregon
reinstated the death penalty, it is time to take a dispassionate look
and conclude that it hasn't done much good.
In the general election of 1984, Oregon voters overwhelmingly called
for the death penalty to be resumed. 2 initiatives were on the ballot
that year. One, calling for capital punishment or mandatory life
sentences for aggravated murder, passed by 893,818 to 296,988. A
companion measure, exempting the death penalty from the provision in
the state constitution against cruel and vindictive punishment, passed
by 653,009 to 521,687.
One of the main arguments was that once killers were executed, we
could be sure that they would never do any more harm.
The justification - prevention of additional killings - has not worked
out in practice. For one thing, the death penalty does not apply to
ordinary 1st-time murder convictions. For another, the judicial system
has failed to live up to the intention expressed by the voters. For
countless legal and procedural reasons, the system has so far failed to
carry out the mandate of 1984. And the pace of murders in Oregon has
been roughly the same since the 1970s - 100 or more a year.
The rate per 100,000 has declined as the population increased, perhaps
because of Measure 11, which put people in prison for violent crimes
well short of murder, rather than letting them off on probation.
There have been 2 executions since the death penalty went back on the
books. In both cases, the condemned men refused to participate in
appeals; they wanted to be executed. The system works when murderers
want the state to help them end their incarceration. It does not work
when the criminals refuse to consent to be put to death, which is most
of the time.
29 men were on Oregon's death row as of last spring, some for as long
as 16 years. One of those who had been there the longest, since 1988,
had just had his conviction overturned for the third time, and his case
was sent back to the trial court for another penalty phase.
Death penalty cases are more expensive and take longer than other
murder cases. Typically the defendant gets 2 expert attorneys appointed
for him rather than 1. And there are 2 trials in each case, one to
determine guilt, the other to set the penalty.
Summing up: Executions have been all but non-existent. Even so, death
penalty cases cost more. The existence of the penalty has not deterred
murders. Lifelong prison terms have the same result as executions in
keeping the public safe.
It's not that repeat murderers don't deserve the death penalty. They
do. But the existence of the penalty in Oregon is not doing anything
except to cause expense and delays. It's time to let it go.
We don't even need a constitutional change, which is unlikely anyway.
All we need is prosecutors making up their mind to seek true-life
sentences instead.
(Hasso Hering, Albany Democrat-Herald, August 29, 2004) (emphasis added). See Costs,
Deterrence,
and Life
Without Parole.
$ Prosecutors Offer a Variety of Reasons for Foregoing Death Penalty
The San Mateo County District Attorney's Office reflected on a number
of factors in deciding to forego seeking a death sentence for Seti
Christopher Scanlan, whose first trial ended in a mistrial after he
took the stand and begged jurors to sentence him to death. Prosecutors
are now seeking a sentence of life in prison for Scanlan after
concluding
that "it was not reasonably likely that we would get a jury that would
deliver the death penalty." The case has already cost taxpayers more
than half a million dollars and that number would have doubled if
prosecutors had chosen to seek a capital conviction during the second
trial. Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe noted that even if a
jury were to sentence Scanlan to death, years of subsequent appeals
would cost taxpayers millions more. The decision to seek life
effectively ends the case against Scanlan, who has admitted to killing
a Burlingame bank manager. He will be sentenced to seven life sentences
and possibly another 90 years on September 20, 2004. David Martel, whose wife was murdered by
Scanlan, concurred in the decision not to seek death: "Scanlan has one
very dark future. He won't know what it's like to live in freedom. It's
gone, and it should be," he said. (Mercury News, August 24, 2004). See Victims,
and Life
Without Parole.
$ Prosecutor Forgoes Costly Death Penalty Trial
In Alameda County, California, prosecutors announced that they will not
seek the death penalty against Richard Dean Wilson because it is
unlikely that a jury
would return a death sentence. State authories say the decision to seek
a life sentence for Wilson
avoids a costly death penalty case and saves taxpayer dollars from
financing a lengthy trial with an uncertain outcome. Wilson
pleaded no contest to the murder of Angela Marie Bledsoe. Prosecutor
Jim Anderson noted, "This was the best penalty phase mitigation I have ever seen. We
thought...the likelihood of getting a death vote on this guy was small.
The best we would have ever gotten was hung jury after hung jury."
(Tri-Valley
Herald, July 30, 2004) See Life
Without Parole.
$ Kansas Turns to Death Penalty Alternative to Save Money
A bill establishing the sentencing option of life
without parole in capital cases has been sent to Kansas Governor Kathleen
Sebelius for signature into law. The state legislature passed the
bipartisan measure in an attempt to curb costs associated with the
death penalty. A legislative audit released in December 2003 found that
the average cost of a death penalty case in Kansas is $1.2 million. An
advisory group of judges and attorneys who studied the stateÕs death
penalty law last year concluded that a life-without-parole sentence
could save the state between $400,000 and $500,000 per trial.
Of the 38 states that have the death penalty, 35
have an alternative sentence of life without parole at least for some offenses. The exceptions are
Kansas, New Mexico, and Texas. (Associated Press, April 1, 2004) See Life
Without Parole.
$
Partial Costs in the Virginia trials of John Muhammad and Lee Malvo
An article in the Washington Post reported figures
from the Virginia state courts on the costs of the capital prosecutions
of John Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo:
Defense Costs
- Muhammad's attorneys were paid $790,726 for their work and expenses.
- Malvo's attorneys were paid over $781,000.
Police and Prosecution Costs
- Police reported expenses of approxmately $500,000 to prosecute Muhammad. The prosecutors' legal costs were not listed.
- Police spent $295,751 to prosecute Malvo. Prosecution salary costs were about $210,000.
Costs do not include appeals. The jury in Muhammad's case voted
for a death sentence; Malvo's jury voted for a life sentence.
(Washington post, February 14, 2004)