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Oh horrors! I am so against the death penalty!
Amy
We were just discussing the two brothers here in Atlanta who pleaded guilty
to killing a dog and other charges. I mentioned the frightening side-effect
that a Republican state congressman wants to change the law so that an 11-1
verdict is all that's needed to convict in a felony case. Well, check the
following. This comes up every couple of years here in Georgia, and chills
me in more ways than i can count.
Death penalty could be easier to impose
Bill would allow execution if nine jurors agreed
By CARLOS CAMPOS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/30/07
A Gwinnett County jury in 2005 unanimously concluded that Wesley Harris
kidnapped and murdered a 2-year-old girl and her mother, stuffed them in a
trunk and set the car on fire. But only 10 of the 12 jurors voted to give
Harris the death penalty, so his life was spared.
Some Georgia legislators are hoping to change state law so people like
Harris could be condemned to death even
if only nine jurors agree on the sentence — doing away with the unanimous
jury requirement in death penalty cases.
House Majority Whip Barry Fleming (R-Harlem) cites the Harris case in
introducing House Bill 185.
The bill, which was filed Friday, would give judges the discretion to impose
the death sentence on nonunanimous jury verdicts in which at least nine
jurors voted for execution.
That means verdicts of 9-3, 10-2 and 11-1 could lead to a death sentence. HB
185 does not change the requirement of a unanimous jury needed for
conviction.
Prosecutors say the change will help them secure death penalty verdicts,
which are increasingly difficult to get as questions mount over the
imposition of capital punishment in the United States.
Defense lawyers say such a change would put Georgia in a category of only a
few states that allow elected judges to impose a death penalty without a
unanimous verdict.
Fleming said prosecutors, including the district attorney in Augusta near
his hometown, sought the bill.
He said that during jury selection some people will say they can impose the
death penalty if necessary, but later refuse to do so on moral grounds.
"People morally opposed to the death penalty obviously aren't opposed to
fibbing," Fleming said Monday.
Other key lawmakers, including House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St.
Simons Island), have signed on to the bill.
Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter cheered HB 185. His office
tried the Harris case.
"One juror said she could not vote to put another black man on death row and
that was the end of that case," Porter said of the case.
In interviews following the Harris verdict, one juror backed up Porter's
assertion that the holdout was based on race, although other jurors said
they weren't sure why the black woman held out. The other holdout was Asian.
Harris was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Porter said he thinks in death penalty trials defense attorneys try to pick
jurors based on race and gender who are less likely to impose capital
punishment.
Veteran death penalty attorney Jack Martin dismissed such claims by
prosecutors as "urban myth." Martin did not represent Harris.
Martin said there can be many reasons why jurors don't impose the death
sentence: They might find something redeeming about the defendant; there
might be a lingering question of guilt; there might be a mental illness that
could help explain the crime.
"Before you impose the ultimate sentence, there needs to be a consensus of
the community — not a majority," said Martin. Majority verdicts could allow
minorities, particularly African-Americans, to be ignored during jury
deliberations, he said."It would be venturing into uncharted waters under
the U.S. and the Georgia Constitution," Martin said.
Stephen Bright, a senior lawyer at the Atlanta-based Southern Center for
Human Rights and a nationally recognized expert on death penalty law, said
the bill represents a "marked" departure from current law.
Juries in Alabama and Florida currently make only a recommendation on the
death penalty, and the decision is ultimately up to the judge.
In those states, the jury recommendation does not have to be unanimous.
Bright said leaving the decision to elected judges in nonunanimous verdicts,
as proposed in HB 185, is particularly troublesome.
In other states, he said, judges have been more likely to choose the death
penalty if there's an election coming up.
"There are political considerations that are going to come into play that
don't come into play when you have a largely anonymous jury ... and no one
person is the lightning rod for the decision," Bright said.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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