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SPONSOR: |
Garcia |
DATE TYPED: |
|
HB |
|
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SHORT TITLE: |
Capital Felony Sentencing |
SB |
51 |
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ANALYST: |
Fox-Young |
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APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
|
|
$0.1 Significant |
Recurring |
General
Fund |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates SB 272;
Relates to SB 75.
Responses
Received From
Administrative
Office of the Courts (AOC)
Attorney
General (AG)
Corrections
Department (CD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
Senate Bill 51 amends
Section 31-20A-5, adding one aggravating circumstance to the list
of aggravating circumstances that may be considered in a capital felony
proceeding
The
bill makes the murder of a child less than eleven years of age an aggravating
circumstance, making an eligible for the death penalty.
The bill cleans up technical language in the statute.
Significant
Issues
It is unclear whether this new aggravating
circumstance protects a class of individuals who are not already covered by
existing aggravating circumstances.
Offenders may be eligible under the death penalty under any of the existing
aggravating circumstances. These
include: murder during the course of a kidnapping, sexual contact with a minor,
or criminal sexual penetration, or murder of a witness.
The Public Defender Department
(PDD) notes that adding an additional aggravator to cover a class of citizens
who are already covered by the death penalty statute will likely spur a number
of protracted appeals. PDD indicates
that the additional circumstance raises a number of questions. For example, does the perpetrator have to know
that the child is below the age of eleven?
Adding to the number of aggravating circumstances for consideration in capital felony cases poses a significant cost for the state. Increased penalties will likely increase the workload throughout the judiciary, necessitating increased resources for the courts, district attorneys and public defenders.
The Administrative Office of the
Courts (AOC) notes that because district courts conduct both a sentencing and a
trial phase in death penalty cases, the need for increased resources is
critical.
AG indicates that an
increase in the number of death penalty cases will likely increase the caseload in its criminal appeals
division. These cases are complex and
require a great amount of time to prepare and argue.
Partially duplicates
SB 75, which includes a provision adding an aggravating circumstance for the
deliberate, intentional murder of a child less than thirteen years of
age. Duplicates SB 272.
The Administrative
Office of the District Attorneys (AODA) suggests making the age of victim
consistent with other areas of the Criminal Code such as 30-9-11(C)(1),
30-9-13(A)(1) or 30-9-18, where the age is thirteen years or less.
JCF/njw