Yesterday, a legislative commission established to examine the death penalty in Maryland released its final report and recommended the death penalty be abolished.

"There is no good and sufficient reason to have the death penalty," Chairman Benjamin R. Civiletti said at a news conference. Regarding the commission's recommendation of repeal rather than reform, he said, "There are so many faults, so many flaws within the system that we could not imagine ... ways in which to cure it."

Ben Civiletti was the U.S. Attorney General under Jimmy Carter. I've had many conversations with him over the past decade as we serve on a board together, and while I admire him tremendously, I can assure you he's no "softie" on crime issues.

The chief findings in the report: [More...]

Georgia Prosecutor Paul Howard is a man on a mission. Having failed to get the death penalty for Brian Nichols, he's not giving up. He's going to ask the feds to bring a death penalty case against Nichols on the charge of killing a federal officer, a different offense than the one charged in Georgia. One of the victims in the Atlanta case was a customs officer whom Nichols killed in his home.

He's also going to seek a change in state law for future cases -- he'll ask them to remove the requirement of a unanimous verdict in cases where the victim is a law enforcement officer, the killing occurred during the course of a robbery or while the offender was in custody. The Georgia House passed such an amendment earlier this year to a Senate bill providing for life without parole in certain cases, but the Senate refused to adopt it in the final version that became law.

He complains the state doesn't get a level playing field in death cases. That's ridiculous. [More...]

The Atlanta jury which was deadlocked Thursday on the death penalty for Brian Nichols remained deadlocked today. The final outcome was 9 to 3 for death. As a result, the judge will impose a sentence of life without parole on Nichols today.

Nichols, who turned 37 on Wednesday, sagged in the shoulders as he heard of the continued deadlock that foreshadowed his escape from execution. Wearing a dark pin-striped suit and cobalt blue shirt, the former $80,000-a-year UNIX administrator for United Parcel Service sat expressionless, as he has for most of the 56 days of the trial, his only hint of nervousness an eye that blinked repeatedly.

The prosecution turned down an offer by Nichols to plead to life without parole last year. The cost of this trial was enormous.

The jury heard 144 witnesses and considered more than 1,200 pieces of evidence. The cost to taxpayers for the defense alone is estimated to have cost well over $2 million — perhaps more than $3 million — although a final accounting won’t be known until all vouchers for lawyers, their staff and four expert witnesses are submitted.

Hopefully in the future, more prosecutors will see the wisdom behind such pleas.

It is difficult to be happy that only 37 inmates have been executed this year (with no new executions expected before 2009), the smallest number of executions in 14 years. The controversy over lethal injection resulted in a de facto moratorium on executions for much of the year. The number of executions may increase next year as the killing machine resumes operation.

More encouraging is that only 111 defendants were sentenced to death this year, down from 115 last year. This may be further evidence that the public (at least outside of Texas, which accounted for 26 of the 37 executions) is losing its stomach for state-sanctioned killing. [more ...]

A prosecutor's lie to a Nevada jury may have influenced its decision to impose the death penalty on Ricky Sechrest.

The prosecutor "misled the jurors to believe that if they did not impose the death penalty, Sechrest could be released on parole and would kill again," the court said, adding that the trial judge "did nothing to stop the prosecutor from making these erroneous assertions."

Apparently the defense attorney, whose representation was judged inadequate in other respects, also did nothing to correct the lie. The court of appeals vacated the death sentence, giving Nevada the choice of accepting a lesser sentence or bringing a new death penalty proceeding. If it chooses the latter, let's hope it plays by the rules this time.

For quite some time, prosecutors were prevented from offering "victim impact" evidence during the penalty phase of a death penalty trial. This made perfect sense, because the decision whether a murderer should be executed shouldn't depend upon how sympathetic the victim could be made to appear, or how many grieving friends and relatives were left behind. That changed in 1991.

Writing for a 6 to 3 majority, then-Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist said prosecutors could balance the virtually unlimited defense mitigation evidence by offering "a quick glimpse of the life" of the victim. But the court laid out little specific guidance beyond saying that victim impact evidence must not be "unduly prejudicial."

The "quick glimpse" language gave birth to an industry that produces "life of the victim" videos, set to music. It is unfortunate that the Supreme Court recently declined to decide whether that kind of video evidence crosses the line that the Court drew in 1991. [more ...]

This is an interesting take on the concept of hate crimes:

Former death row inmate Gordon “Randy” Steidl addressed a crowd at Illinois College’s Sibert Theatre sporting a pin on his lapel, stating “The death penalty is a hate crime.” ... Mr. Steidl hopes those listening to his speech “come away with the idea that capital punishment is not punishment,” he said in a Journal-Courier interview before the event. “The death penalty is nothing more than a hate crime. It’s a form of revenge.

Steidl should know. Twelve of the 17 years he wrongfully served in prison were on death row. TalkLeft told Steidl's story here.

The U.S. Army has scheduled its first execution since 1961.

Ronald A. Gray has been scheduled to die by lethal injection at the Federal death camp at Terre Haute on December 12.

Only the President, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, can approve the execution of a death sentence [Article 71(a), Uniform Code of Military Justice]. On July 28, 2008, the President approved the death sentence in the case of the United States v Ronald A. Gray. The President took action following completion of a full appellate process, which upheld the conviction and sentence to death. Two petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court were denied during the appellate processing of Pvt. Gray's case.

President Bush approved the death order. Gray was sentenced to death by a court-martial panel in 1988 for "two murders, an attempted murder, and three rapes."

Gray was 22 at the time of his sentencing. According to the 1999 U.S. military appeals court opinion here, there were psychiatric and organic brain damage issues, as well as a host of other issues, all decided adversely to Gray.

This is the verdict of a Maryland commission that examined the state's death penalty:

capital punishment doesn't deter crime and is affected by racial and jurisdictional disparities. ...

The panel found death penalty cases cost more and that there is "a real possibility" a mistake could cause an innocent person to be executed.

Gov. Martin O'Malley hopes the commission's work will convince the legislature to reexamine Maryland's need for capital punishment.

"I think the proper course of conduct now is for us to take a fresh look at the death penalty, ask ourselves why we need to continue to have the death penalty on the books," O'Malley told reporters today. "It is ineffective. It does not work."

Maryland has executed five inmates since 1978 and has five men currently on death row.

Good news out of Georgia:

A federal appeals court gave a last-minute reprieve Friday to a Georgia man set to be executed for the 1989 killing of an off-duty police officer even though several witnesses have changed their accounts of the crime.

Troy Davis, 40, was scheduled to be executed Monday. But the three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered defense attorneys and prosecutors to draft briefs that address whether Davis can meet "stringent requirements" to pursue the next round of appeals.

Amnesty International has background and in a press release today (no link yet) says: [More...]

Texas has 12 executions scheduled for the next six weeks.

Two were executed the week of Oct. 13. Two were scheduled for this week. And two more the week after that. Then six more in November, adding to Texas' standing as the nation's most active death penalty state.

[Hat tip Sentencing Law and Policy.]

The World Medical Association's General Assembly met Friday and Saturday in Seoul, South Korea. It passed the following resolution, expanding those of prior years prohibiting physcian participation in executions:

RESOLVED, that it is unethical for physicians to participate in capital punishment, in any way, or during any step of the execution process, including its planning and the instruction and/or training of persons to perform executions, The World Medical Association REQUESTS firmly its constituent members to advise all physicians that any participation in capital punishment as stated above is unethical. URGES its constituent members to lobby actively national governments and legislators against any participation of physicians in capital punishment.

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