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Sunday, November 4, 2007

Death Penalty Costs New Mexico Millions, Justice

By State Rep. Gail Chasey
Albuquerque Democrat
    This week the New Mexico Supreme Court suspended further proceedings in two death-penalty cases stemming from the 1999 Santa Rosa prison riot unless and until the Legislature appropriates enough money to compensate the defense attorneys adequately in these cases.
    The court indicated that an additional $400,000 would be needed for the state to continue its pursuit of the death penalty for Reis Lopez and Robert Young. It is estimated that more than $4 million has already been spent prosecuting inmates allegedly involved in the Santa Rosa debacle.
    Originally, 13 men were charged with the first-degree murder of prison guard Ralph Garcia. Ten of the 13 cases have been resolved by pleas to lesser offenses, and three men still face the death penalty. But seven years later, we still don't know if these three defendants are guilty or not. And the passage of time and the turmoil and confusion of the disturbance may even make it impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt precisely what happened or who is responsible for Garcia's death.
    We've been down this road before. In the early 1980s, New Mexico also spent a great deal of money trying to execute 14 men accused of killing other inmates in the Santa Fe prison riot. None of those cases ended with a death sentence.
    Only one man out of the 14 actually served time for first-degree murder, and that was the result of a plea agreement, not a jury trial. Five of the defendants pleaded to or were convicted of lesser crimes, three were acquitted, one was killed in prison, and charges against four others were dropped.
    All of this raises the question: Can New Mexico afford the death penalty?
    We have never done a study to determine how much more it costs here in New Mexico when the prosecution seeks the death of a defendant. However, just a few months ago, Richard Deiter, the Director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C., testified that he has reviewed every cost study of the death penalty of the past 25 years and all of them conclude that the death penalty is more expensive than any other punishment, including life without parole.
    People are usually surprised when they hear that the death penalty is so expensive. It seems to go against logic. But, as the U.S. Supreme Court observed in 1976, "death is different."
    Because the punishment, once inflicted, is irrevocable, capital cases are more lengthy and complicated. Everything involved in a regular trial is needed for a capital trial, only more.
    It is also important to realize that the cost of the death penalty is not simply the cost of paying the lawyers, the trial process and the appeals. The Supreme Court opinion acknowledges that, in addition to attorney fees, $870,000 has been set aside to pay experts for the defense. The prosecution usually doesn't need to pay its experts because they use the resources of other government agencies, such as state and local police and the state crime lab. But that doesn't mean it doesn't cost us, the taxpayers, money.
    Another problem is the burden on the court system. A death-penalty trial takes much longer than other trials because it is actually two trials— one determining guilt or innocence and a second to decide if the death penalty should be imposed.
    Thus, death-penalty trials tie up the courts and can require other important cases to be postponed. The result for the postponed cases is that some important witnesses may no longer be available, evidence could be lost, and cases can even be dismissed.
    What do we receive for this enormous investment of time and money? Since capital punishment was reinstated in 1979, the state has sought death in 208 cases. Yet we have executed only one man since then and only because that man, Terry Clark, instructed his lawyers to drop further legal proceedings and allow the state to execute him.
    The cost of the death penalty is not just the cost of the occasional case that results in an execution. It is the cost of every single case that the prosecution pursues for the unlikely possibility of an execution.
    Santa Rosa has already cost the state seven years and millions of dollars. Is it worth it? Has justice been served for Ralph Garcia and his family?
    The answer is no. Ralph Garcia's widow has stated publicly that she wants the death penalty dropped in her husband's case. She prefers that the state redirect the resources now spent on capital punishment to expand services for murder victims' families.
    I agree with her. It's time for New Mexico to repeal the death penalty once and for all. There is no rational justification to continue this barbaric practice. We can and should replace the death penalty with a sentence of life without possibility of parole— a severe punishment that would protect society— one that we can afford.