Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 19, 2006 18:19:58 GMT -5
Lawyers seek death penalty changes
BY RON WORD THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSONVILLE -- Florida needs to make drastic changes to its death penalty system, including requiring an unanimous jury verdict before judges can impose a death sentence, a team of prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges is recommending in a study released Saturday.
The eight-member team conducted its two-year study as part of an American Bar Association program examining the death penalty process in several states in an attempt to make them fairer and to reduce the chance that an innocent person could be executed.
The panel also said Florida should take steps to ensure that defendants facing a possible death sentence have qualified attorneys.
"Despite the best efforts of many legislators, judges and lawyers, much more needs to be done to ensure that Florida's death penalty system avoids executing the innocent," said University of Florida law professor Christopher Slobogin, the panel's chairman.
"Florida has released more people from death row than other state, which suggests the system has serious problems," said Slobogin, who noted the state has had 22 death row inmates exonerated since 1973.
The proposal to require an unanimous jury verdict came up last fall when the Florida Supreme Court suggested the Legislature make the change. Under Florida law, juries in capital murder cases issue a recommendation to the judge on whether to impose a sentence of death or life in prison. It does not have to be unanimous. The judge makes the final decision, but must give the recommendation "great weight."
Alia Faraj, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jeb Bush, said Friday his office had just received the 454-page document and was awaiting a review by the governor's legal staff.
"The governor believes in a swift and fair system," she said. He also is a proponent of DNA testing and signed an executive order in August 2005 requiring authorities to preserve DNA evidence in certain older cases to determine if defendants are wrongly convicted, Faraj said.
Attorney General Charlie Crist, who is also the Republican candidate for governor, declined immediate comment Friday through a spokeswoman, but last fall he urged the Legislature not to change the law.
"Had the requirement for an unanimous vote to recommend been in place earlier, serial killers such as Ted Bundy, Aileen Wuornos and others would not have met the fate they deserved for their actions. Juries recommended death for both Bundy and Wuornos by 10-2 votes," Crist said then.
BY RON WORD THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSONVILLE -- Florida needs to make drastic changes to its death penalty system, including requiring an unanimous jury verdict before judges can impose a death sentence, a team of prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges is recommending in a study released Saturday.
The eight-member team conducted its two-year study as part of an American Bar Association program examining the death penalty process in several states in an attempt to make them fairer and to reduce the chance that an innocent person could be executed.
The panel also said Florida should take steps to ensure that defendants facing a possible death sentence have qualified attorneys.
"Despite the best efforts of many legislators, judges and lawyers, much more needs to be done to ensure that Florida's death penalty system avoids executing the innocent," said University of Florida law professor Christopher Slobogin, the panel's chairman.
"Florida has released more people from death row than other state, which suggests the system has serious problems," said Slobogin, who noted the state has had 22 death row inmates exonerated since 1973.
The proposal to require an unanimous jury verdict came up last fall when the Florida Supreme Court suggested the Legislature make the change. Under Florida law, juries in capital murder cases issue a recommendation to the judge on whether to impose a sentence of death or life in prison. It does not have to be unanimous. The judge makes the final decision, but must give the recommendation "great weight."
Alia Faraj, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jeb Bush, said Friday his office had just received the 454-page document and was awaiting a review by the governor's legal staff.
"The governor believes in a swift and fair system," she said. He also is a proponent of DNA testing and signed an executive order in August 2005 requiring authorities to preserve DNA evidence in certain older cases to determine if defendants are wrongly convicted, Faraj said.
Attorney General Charlie Crist, who is also the Republican candidate for governor, declined immediate comment Friday through a spokeswoman, but last fall he urged the Legislature not to change the law.
"Had the requirement for an unanimous vote to recommend been in place earlier, serial killers such as Ted Bundy, Aileen Wuornos and others would not have met the fate they deserved for their actions. Juries recommended death for both Bundy and Wuornos by 10-2 votes," Crist said then.