[DP] FW: death penalty news-----KANSAS (but Texas-related)

[Carole Johnson]

>From: Rick Halperin <rhalperi at mail.smu.edu>
>Reply-To: TCADP-BOARD01 at yahoogroups.com
>To: TCADP-BOARD01 <TCADP-BOARD01 at yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: [TCADP-BOARD01] death penalty news-----KANSAS (but Texas-related)
>Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2003 10:15:33 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
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>
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>Friends---
>
>here is some news about the death penalty and cost....it would be good if
>we could get a similar thorough statewide cost analysis.....
>
>
>
>
>KANSAS:
>
>Death penalty cost: $1.26 million---A report shows death penalty cases
>cost much more than other murder cases.
>
>
>It has cost an average of $1.26 million to successfully prosecute death
>penalty cases in Kansas, well above the $740,000 average for cases that
>have resulted in Hard 40 or Hard 50 prison sentences, a legislative report
>released Friday concluded.
>
>The report suggested the state could save money by establishing a sentence
>of life without the possibility of parole. It also suggested that the
>system might be improved by funneling capital murder cases through the
>state attorney general's office.
>
>The report was prepared by the Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit
>to let legislators know whether death penalty cases were significantly
>more expensive than non-death penalty cases -- and if so, by how much.
>
>The $1.26 million estimate was for cases involving the 7 inmates who have
>been sentenced to death and are now housed at the El Dorado Correctional
>Facility.
>
>The audit compared information from those cases with 7 cases in which the
>death penalty was sought by prosecutors but not received, and 8 1st-degree
>murder cases in which the death penalty was not sought.
>
>Wichita lawyer Richard Ney, a member of the Kansas Coalition Against the
>Death Penalty, said the report's conclusions were not unexpected.
>
>"We told the Legislature that this is going to be expensive, and their
>position was 'OK,"' Ney said. "These figures are not out of line with what
>we told them it would cost."
>
>Ney, who had yet to read the report, said he suspects the audit's figures
>may be low because there are many unresolved issues involving the cases.
>He noted that each of the 1st 4 defendants sentenced to death will be
>retried because of errors in the penalty phases of their trials.
>
>Deputy District Attorney Kim Parker also said she had yet to read the
>report but said she was not surprised to hear about its financial
>conclusion.
>
>"It's not remarkable to suggest that death penalty cases are going to cost
>more than non-death penalty cases," she said. "They're much more serious
>cases.
>
>"If you compare a rape case to a shoplifting case, the rape case is going
>to cost more."
>
>Senate President Dave Kerr, R-Hutchinson, said he had expected the cost of
>prosecuting death penalty cases to be even higher.
>
>Rep. John Edmonds, R-Great Bend, said he was not surprised at the
>findings.
>
>"There's no free lunch in this, short of having the crimes not committed,"
>he said.
>
>The report concluded that the median trial cost of the 7 death-penalty
>cases was $508,000 -- far more than the $32,000 trial costs in the
>non-death penalty cases.
>
>Appellate costs were estimated at $401,000 for the death penalty cases,
>compared with $19,000 for the non-death penalty cases.
>
>The estimated cost of carrying out a sentence was set at $350,000 for the
>seven death penalty defendants, compared with $659,000 for the 8
>defendants in the non-death penalty cases.
>
>The report suggested several potential improvements in the system:
>
>Establishing a life sentence without parole could prompt prosecutors to
>file fewer death penalty cases and prompt juries to impose fewer death
>sentences.
>
>Having the attorney general's office screen cases would promote
>consistency while eliminating decision-making based on the amount of funds
>available to the prosecution.
>
>Having state-employed specialists -- such as psychologists and forensic
>experts -- could eliminate the need to hire private-sector specialists.
>
>Establishing a Wichita satellite office for the Topeka-based death penalty
>defense unit. The office could handle cases in which conflicts arise with
>the Topeka office, where lawyers cost the state about $32 an hour. The
>state now hires private lawyers, usually at $100 an hour, when conflicts
>arise.
>
>The report said it considered everything from the cost of guarding the
>crime scene to the cost of perimeter security during an execution.
>Personnel costs were estimated by collecting information about the
>salaries and number of hours worked by those involved in a case.
>
>(source: Wichita Eagle)
>
>**********************
>
>State should curb death penalty costs, audit concludes
>
>
>The state could do more to control death penalty costs, even though some
>of its existing practices lessen the expense of capital murder trials,
>according to a state audit released Friday.
>
>The auditors suggested the attorney general's office, rather than local
>prosecutors, determine whether to seek the death penalty. Expert witnesses
>should be on the state payroll, which the auditors said would cost less
>than hiring outside specialists.
>
>The auditors said the state also could reduce the number of capital murder
>trials by creating a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole
>for some murders. The toughest nondeath penalty now is life in prison with
>no chance of parole for 50 years.
>
>Rep. John Edmonds said some recommendations "boil down to having fewer
>cases."
>
>"There's no free lunch in this, short of having the crimes not committed,"
>said Edmonds, R-Great Bend.
>
>The auditors found that practices in Kansas differ from other states. For
>example, Kansas does not require grand jury indictments and typically does
>not sequester juries in capital cases.
>
>"Some aspects of the way Kansas has implemented the death penalty actually
>save money," the audit said.
>
>Prepared by the Legislative Division of Post Audit, the report became
>public Friday during a meeting of a legislative committee that oversees
>the division's work.
>
>Auditors surveyed 22 1st-degree murder cases -- the seven in which a death
>sentence was imposed under the state's 1994 capital punishment law, 7 in
>which prosecutors unsuccessfully sought the death penalty and 8 in which
>prosecutors did not seek a death sentence.
>
>The auditors found the median cost of a case resulting in a death sentence
>was $1.2 million, compared with $740,000 in a case in which a death
>sentence wasn't pursued.
>
>In cases where the death penalty was sought but not imposed, the median
>cost was about $900,000. Overall, the state bore about 85 % of all the
>costs when the death penalty was sought, with local governments picking up
>the rest.
>
>A finding that capital cases are more expensive than non-capital cases is
>not surprising. Opponents of capital punishment repeatedly have raised
>high costs as an issue in legislative debates over the past 2 decades.
>
>Also, auditors noted that requirements for handling death penalty cases
>imposed by the U.S. Supreme Court make such cases more expensive.
>
>(source: Associated Press)
>
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