Pendulum swings toward life in prison

If the Georgia Supreme Court is to be taken at its word, certain armed robberies that turn into murder may no longer qualify for the death penalty.

Since 1974, the court has ruled repeatedly that death sentences that became rare for certain types of cases would be thrown out.

The Journal-Constitution has found that death sentences for straightforward armed-robbery murder cases have dropped sharply.

These types do not involve murder for hire, the killing of a police officer, maiming or torture. Typically, they involve a killing during a convenience store robbery or a holdup on a street corner.

From 1995 through 2004, 440 men and women were convicted of these types of murders in Georgia, the newspaper found.

Seven death sentences were imposed in cases from 1995 through 1999. One was overturned on appeal, but reinstated in 2002.

Of the 189 armed-robbery murder cases from 2000 through 2004, only one led to a death sentence. It was overturned because of improper arguments by the prosecutor at sentencing.

Georgia State University law professor Anne Emanuel, who has studied the court's review, said the court should be overturning all death sentences for these types of murders.

"When only about 1 percent of these cases are receiving a death sentence, that sentence is substantially out of line," Emanuel said. "In fact, it's constitutionally disproportionate."

The court has used the review to toss out death sentences for armed robbery, rape and kidnapping with bodily injury.

In 1974, the court overturned a death sentence for an armed robbery in East Point, saying it had been "rarely imposed" in similar cases. For the same reason, the court threw out five more death sentences for armed robbery in the next seven years.

In July, the Florida Supreme Court threw out a death sentence for a defendant who killed a man during a 2001 robbery. It found no evidence of premeditation and no intent to eliminate a witness.

"We do not diminish the tragic and inexcusable loss of life of the victim," the court said, "but we must reserve the death penalty for the most egregious of murders."