A new report released by the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury recommended changes to the state’s costly death penalty and called into question its effectiveness in preventing crime. The Office of Research noted that it lacked sufficient data to accurately account for the total cost of capital trials, stating that “because cost and time records were not maintained, the Office of Research was unable to determine the total, comprehensive cost of the death penalty in Tennessee.” Although noting that, “no reliable data exists concerning the cost of prosecution or defense of first-degree murder cases in Tennessee,” the report concluded that capital murder trials are longer and more expensive at every step compared to other murder trials. In fact, the available data indicated that in capital trials, taxpayers pay half again as much as murder cases in which prosecutors seek prison terms rather than the death penalty. Findings in the report include the following:

  • Death penalty trials cost an average of 48% more than the average cost of trials in which prosecutors seek life imprisonment.
  • Tennessee District Attorneys General are not consistent in their pursuit of the death penalty.
  • Surveys and interviews of district attorneys indicate that some prosecutors “use the death penalty as a ‘bargaining chip’ to secure plea bargains for lesser sentences.”
  • Previous research provides no clear indication whether the death penalty acts as a method of crime prevention.
  • The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals reversed 29 percent of capital cases on direct appeal.
  • Although any traumatic trial may cause stress and pain for jurors, the victims’ family, and the defendant’s family, the pressure may be at its peak during death penalty trials.

Read the The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Office of Research’s Report, “Tennessee’s Death Penalty: Costs and Consequences.” See Costs.