Life-without-parole bill pulled from House vote

A move to allow non-unanimous jury death sentences on Tuesday sidetracked legislation that would give prosecutors more options to seek sentences of life in prison without parole.

The House was scheduled to vote for final passage of Senate Bill 13, which would allow district attorneys to seek life without parole for murder without having to ask for the death penalty to get it. But the bill, the top legislative priority for DAs, was suddenly withdrawn by House Rules Committee Chairman Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs).

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Outside the House chamber, Ehrhart said S.B. 13 needed a “technical correction.”

Sen. Preston Smith (R-Rome), the bill’s lead sponsor, said he was told that House leaders pulled the bill to try and amend it to allow death sentences when jurors vote 9 to 3 in favor of death but are unable to reach a verdict.

That is the same split in which jurors deadlocked in the death-penalty trial against courthouse killer Brian Nichols, who was subsequently sentenced to life without parole.

“It sounds like both bills are dead,” Smith said. “I’m very disappointed.”

Smith said he believes in the death penalty but said he has yet to see a non-unanimous jury proposal that will withstand a constitutional challenge.

If S.B. 13 fails, it would be the third year in a row it has happened. Last year, House leaders refused to allow Smith’s bill pass without a non-unanimous jury bill.

Douglas County District Attorney David McDade expressed surprise by the turn of events. He declined comment.

Sara Totonchi, public policy director for the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, said House leaders are trying to push through controversial legislation at the expense of the life-without-parole bill, which has the support of both prosecutors and defense attorneys.

“This bill lowers the standards for the imposition of the death penalty at a time when the nation is moving to enact more safeguards to make sure we don’t convict or execute the wrong person,” she said.