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DAY THREE

Is the public less eager to have killers die?

Juries increasingly prefer option of life without parole

By HEATHER VOGELL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Robyn Lang felt that if you kill, you should be killed.

Then she sat on Robert Spickler Jr.'s jury.

(ENLARGE)

Spickler had met his victim, Bruce Belville, in Las Vegas. Months later, Spickler and a friend stopped to see the Cobb County businessman while driving to Florida. The three drank away the night at a bar before returning to Belville's home.

When Belville fell asleep, Spickler smashed in his skull with a sledgehammer and fled with his credit cards.

Spickler deserved the utmost punishment for the brutal act, Cobb District Attorney Pat Head told jurors. But in the jury room, Lang decided the death penalty was less clear-cut than she'd thought.

"I still saw this man as a human being," said Lang, a schoolteacher. "The death penalty to me is for certain killers — for somebody who could murder again, somebody who is a danger."

She and 11 other jurors decided Spickler qualified for execution under Georgia law. But they sentenced him in 2001 to life without parole.

Lang's reluctance to impose death — a penalty she had long supported — mirrors an ambivalence that has taken hold of juries across Georgia and the nation.

Georgia juries have rejected death in two of every three capital cases since 2000, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's study of murder convictions shows. Last year, for the first time in 30 years, no Georgia jury issued a death sentence.

That marked a departure from the mid- to late 1990s, when juries imposed death about half the time. In 1997 and 1998, juries sent killers to death row 67 percent of the time.

The drop-off is stark when measured in death sentences: Georgia sent five or more people to death row every year between 1974 and 2000. It's sent fewer than five each year since then.

Public opinion polls show that support for the death penalty continues to run high throughout the South.

But experts say a raft of factors have sent death sentences tumbling here and across the country. Better-trained defense lawyers, the option of life without parole, a dip in violent crime and, possibly, a shift in Americans' view of execution are all contributing, they say.

At one time, execution was the only way Georgia juries could guarantee a killer would never walk free.

But the popularity of life without parole has surged since 1993, when Georgia lawmakers made that sentence possible for capital cases. Juries chose it in a third of death penalty trials in the five years before 2000; the rate nearly doubled in the five years that followed.

Juries' reluctance to impose death has frustrated prosecutors. They tried but failed this year to persuade lawmakers to allow a death sentence even when a jury does not unanimously agree.

"To me, it is just a line that must be drawn at some point," said Head, the Cobb district attorney. "Unless juries are willing to impose the death penalty, we don't have a line."

Yet the newspaper's analysis shows prosecutors are also a reason for the sentence drop. Between 2000 and 2004, they took death penalty cases to juries only half as often as they had before.

Some experts say prosecutors and juries are behaving more cautiously in reaction to bad publicity for the death penalty in recent years.

Ten of the 38 death penalty states have put executions on hold — seven because of challenges that lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, according to state officials and the Death Penalty Information Center.

Exonerations of death row criminals because of DNA and other evidence have also heightened fear that an innocent person could be executed, experts say.

Scott Sundby, a law professor and death penalty expert at Washington and Lee University, said he believes better training and support for defense lawyers also explain the drop in death trials. Three U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 2000 have underscored that the court will overturn a death sentence if the defendant is not represented properly.

The cost of death penalty prosecutions has climbed as capital defense has grown more thorough. Sundby said those higher costs, the reduced odds of victory, and a perception that perhaps the public isn't demanding death as it once did may all be discouraging prosecutors from taking death cases to trial.

Some observers wonder whether the death penalty will peter out on its own.

Sundby said many people continue to support execution despite the criticism because they believe no other punishment is right for egregious killers such as Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, who was put to death in 2001.

Yet Mike Bowers, who argued in favor of dozens of executions when he was Georgia's attorney general, said he believes the death penalty's future is uncertain.

"I genuinely believe we're seeing the decline and demise of the death penalty in this country," Bowers said. "I think it's because of the cost, the interminable delays and society's demand that there be certainty — and that makes it almost impossible."

— Staff writer Bill Rankin contributed to this article.

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Comments

By Steiner

Apr 11, 2008 10:19 AM | Link to this

As far as prisoners being fed slop and having inadequate health care well, they should have thought about that before they committed the crime.
There should be public executions and if people don't like it, get yourself a gun and we will have a war and if you win you can have your way. But after I win, we will have public hangings with a nominal admission fee with the proceeds going to the victims family. I would also extend the death penalty to someone who commits three violent felonies even if no death results from it. If the Supreme court ruled against it, they would be ignored and if anyone came down to enforce their order, they would be kicked in the rear and sent packing. Now that is real justice folks.

By Agnes Cowan

Dec 1, 2007 4:56 AM | Link to this

Now 80, I have fought against the death penalty for most of my life. My romance/mystery novel, Rachel's Redemption,is a many/faceted story demanding of the reader a second look at many moral issues shaping our laws and attitudes. The integral story-line of the book involves a horrendous miscarriage of justice in the case of one heartbreaking situation where the death penalty
vote of one juror virtually destroyed the juror.

By Carrie Hedrick

Nov 6, 2007 7:23 AM | Link to this

I believed in the death penalty and the justice system when I was in my 20's and didn't read very much. We have lawyers,police officers, judges, and D.A.'s who lie and bury evidence. Hell, the officers involved in the court house shootings lied in an investigation regarding their fellow officer and a judge in the Brian Nichols case and none of them were even fired. If I lied during an investigation of a traffic stop I would be in prison. We also have recently seen a number of convicted rapist, and a few men that have been convicted by eyewitness testimony that have been released due to DNA evidence. So, how can we put a person to death with so many problems with the people we hire and elect to oversee our court system? I'm all for the death penalty, especially for child molesters and child murderers. However, we can't do that when we have so many people who LIE on all sides of a case. And if you want to stop overcrowding, quit putting people in prison for 20 or more years for having marijuana and letting child molesters out in 5 to ten years on parole so that they can destroy another child's life or take a child's life! Save the room for rapists, murderers, and child molesters.

By George S. Ellington

Oct 8, 2007 2:12 PM | Link to this

The death penalty is not used often enough if you ask me; Think of the many lives that are taken daily the rapes committed and the many millions of hollers in drugs sold on our streets daily. The only crime is that when the death penalty is handed down by the courts it is seldom carried out people stay on death row 15, 20, 25 years and in some cases die while waiting to be executed. And who ever came up with the idea of lethal injection has never lost a loved one to a capital crime or had a teenager get strung out on drugs because the only deterrent to crime is fear and what fear does a prisoner get from looking lethal injection in the face NONE Keep the electric chair, The gas chamber, hanging and firing squad and USE them on a regular basis like they are intended to be used and you will see the crime rate in this country drop overnight. Why should we care if an electrocution is botched on occasion did the person that suffers a botched execution even stop to think of his victims pain or the pain his actions would cause the loved ones left behind I seriously doubt it. The execution age needs to be set at 18 in my opinion at 18 you are old enough to distinguish right from wrong and there is no reason an 18 year old who is legal to die for his country can not die for his crimes if they are serious enough to warrant such a punishment! So my hat goes off to Texas (300 so far way to go) and Florida in leading this country in the executing of their inmates all I say is keep up the good work if it were left up to me we would empty the prisons in this country in one good weekend of non stop executions save the money it cost to house these animals and make the streets safe for our women elderly and children. It is not fair for Robert Lee Yates who killed 13 prostitutes or Gary Ridgeway who has been charged with the deaths of 48 young woman including the daughter of a friend of mine and just yesterday Robert Browne who is already serving time in Colorado for murder has admitted to killing 50 people in California, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Washington, as well as one in South Korea The easy answer is these losers deserve to die by execution instead of the different police departments making deals such as tell us what you know and we wont execute you. This is not fair to the victims nor the families that are left behind, in my opinion these killers did not have any regard for their victims so why should we have any regard for them. It also is screaming out to other go ahead and kill someone and we will let you live with no threat of execution! Capital punishment is a deterrent for crime and you will see the crime rate drop when the death penalty is used like it one was in a bygone era!
I am also for the idea of whipping or caning, Singapore canes their inmates and they have very little crime. If it were up to me we would be whipping inmates on the courthouse square especially those who molest kids or hurt the elderly! I also feel that we should empty our prisons of all of the people that are locked up for petty crimes and draft them into the military! If my ideas were a reality this world would be a paradise!
George S, Ellington

By George S. Ellington

Oct 8, 2007 2:10 PM | Link to this

By SueB

Oct 4, 2007 2:22 AM | Link to this

The death penalty has been used for centuries, and publicly too. Do you see it has had any effect? Did people stop killing each other? Do you see public executions as a step forward for civilisation?

My answers are no, no and no.

The death penalty feeds into the cycle of violence, keeping it spinning forever.

By red

Sep 25, 2007 8:09 PM | Link to this

we have 2 problems in Ga currently. Prisons are over-flowing, and the crime rate is rising. Solve 2 problems with 1 solution... that is legal.
Death penalty. No more sitting in prison for life... just hang.
Bring back public hangings and you will quickly see the crime rate plummett.
Can you see it now?>
On the 2nd Thurs of each month, we gather at the local county courthouse, to see the wooden gallows do their job. Hang them up,... read their crime... listen to their mamas cry.....
Crime will no longer be an issue, and neither will over crowded prisons.

By kristie

Sep 25, 2007 6:18 PM | Link to this

i beg to differ with you, they don't have the use of computers, and 3 meals a day well if you think that the slop they serve is a meal then so be it!!! what family most family go on about there way and forget about them. healthcare what a joke, they would rather let you suffer than fix your teeth or see what is wrong with you medically. until you've walked in a prison or suffered as a family member you need to really know the true facts!!! you will be amazed at how these men/women are treated. yes, i'm sure you suffer from being a part of the victims family but have you ever heard of the word "forgiveness" then maybe you can heal..........

By Defender

Sep 25, 2007 4:33 PM | Link to this

As a defense investigator, I have met with, interviewed, shook hands with, and even hugged murderers; including some facing the death penalty. A few points for each of us to consider:
1. If you think a convict in prison has an easy time, no matter what the media says, you are sadly mistaken. Inmates have the "comforts" to keep them pacified - without them, they would probably riot. Try to arrange a tour of a prison - it is NOT pleasant!
2. At this time, there have been over 200 people released from prison AND death row: because they were innocent, convicted of crimes they did not commit. Knowing this fact makes it very difficult to support the death penalty, doesn't it?
3. I feel extremely bad about the victims and their families - they should not have ever been through what they have. But ask yourselves this question: Is the victim resurrected when a murderer is executed? Does it really make the families feel better? No, it doesn't.
4. Consider the amount of money it takes to bring a defendant to trial: police to investigate & arrest; investigators to prepare the case; prosecutors; etc. In the case of an indigent person, how much is available to defend that person per our CONSTITUTION? The amount spent to prosecute is so far beyond what is available to defend that there is no comparison. Remember the 200+ released from death row!
5. Want to make the justice system better? Petition your State Representative to make certain funds collected and intended for the indigent defense system are actually USED for that purpose - currently, those funds are being redirected to fund "pet projects". THAT is why you see the news about GPDSC being broke!

Before you claim support for the death penalty, take the time to research it. You will be amazed at what you find!

By Raiderbeater

Sep 25, 2007 4:02 PM | Link to this

I have a wild and crazy idea.....If someone kills another person unprovoked , they should be killed in return. What a wild idea, I guess I solved the big "problem" that all these former liberal college students....oops I mean legislatures run into. It's a happy world....Brian Nichols just was raised bad. 20yrs and parole ought to clean him up...he behaves so well in the courtroom already. Can't you see the improvement???? The only reason people want him to get the death penalty is because everyone saw what happened...I guarantee every unprovoked killer would get the death penalty if the jury could look into their eyes when they snuffed the life out of another person.

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