Keep in mind, this was written in 1994, so the cost figures are much higher today...
Time Is Money
Death penalty cases are so expensive because they take longer at every stage and require vast resources for both the prosecution and the defense. The authors of the North Carolina study identified 24 principal areas in which a death penalty case would likely be more expensive than if the case were tried non-capitally. These areas included:
*More investigative work by both law enforcement officials and the defense team
* More pre-trial motions
* More questioning concerning individual jurors' views on capital punishment and more peremptory challenges to jurors at jury selection
* The appointment of two defense attorneys
* A longer and more complex trial
* A separate penalty phase conducted in front of a jury
* A more thorough review of the case on direct appeal
* More post-trial motions
* Greater likelihood that counsel will be appointed for a federal habeas corpus petition
* Greater likelihood that there will be full briefing and argument on federal review
* More preparation for, and a longer clemency proceeding.
The North Carolina study estimated that a death penalty trial takes about four times longer than a non-capital murder trial. And, of course, not every death penalty trial results in a death sentence. Based on the experience in North Carolina, the authors found that less than a third of capital trials resulted in a death sentence. Nevertheless, each of the these trials had the extra expense associated with death penalty proceedings. The trial costs alone were about $200,000 more for each death penalty imposed than if no death penalty was involved.
The authors computed the costs of appealing a death penalty case and subtracted the savings which accrue to the state when an execution finally occurs. The "savings," which are due to the inmate no longer being kept at state expense, only occur when an execution is actually carried out. As with the trial level, there is a "failure" rate resulting from the fact that many inmates who are sentenced to death will never be executed. Many cases will be overturned on appeal, some inmates will commit suicide, others will die of natural causes. Again, based on the experience in North Carolina, the authors estimated that only one inmate would likely be executed for every ten who are sentenced to death. This is actually higher than the national rate where only about one in every eleven cases which have been resolved has resulted in an execution.
Bulk Of Costs at Trial Level
The importance of accounting for this failure rate is critical for two reasons. First, it represents a truer picture of what it is actually costing the state to achieve an execution. It is not just the cost of a single person's trial and appeals. That would be comparable to saying that the cost of landing a man on the moon was the cost of fuel for the one rocket which brought him there. The state has to pay more for all the trials and appeals which start out as death penalty cases but for which there will never be the "saving" associated with an execution.
Second, the per execution costs reveal that the bulk of death penalty costs occur at the trial level. Often those who acknowledge the high costs of the death penalty believe that the expense is due to "endless appeals." By taking into account the capital cases which will never result in an execution, the North Carolina study makes clear that the trials produce the largest share of death penalty costs and these costs will not be substantially lessened by tinkering with the opportunities that death row inmates have to appeal. A significant financial corollary of this finding is that taxpayers must pay death penalty expenses up front, whereas the costs of a life sentence are meted out gradually over many years, making that alternative even less expensive.
Evidence from Other States
There have been numerous indications from other areas of the country that the death penalty is straining the budgets of state and local governments and that the financial drain is getting worse. Some counties have been brought to the brink of bankruptcy because of death penalty cases. More county commissioners have risked going to jail for balking at paying for capital prosecutions, while others reluctantly raise taxes to pay the costs of even one capital case.
*In San Diego, California, the prosecution costs alone (not counting defense costs or appeals) for three capital cases averaged over half a million dollars each. One estimate puts the total California death penalty expense bill at $1 billion since 1977. California has executed two people during that time, one of whom refused to appeal his case.
*In Jasper County, Mississippi, the Circuit Judge and the District Attorney had to address the county supervisors to get more money for death penalty prosecutions. The only solution was to raise county taxes. "It's going to be a fairly substantial increase," said the board president, John Sims. "I hope the taxpayers understand...."
*In Connecticut, a state with only a handful of death row inmates, The Connecticut Law Tribune was unable to calculate the total costs of capital punishment but concluded that the "costs are staggering." State's attorney Mark Solak said he spent between 1,000 and 1,500 hours preparing one capital prosecution. The defense attorney in the case noted that if his client had been given an offer of life in prison without parole he would have accepted it "in a heartbeat." "The case," he said, "would have been over in 15 minutes. . . . No one would have spent a penny."
*In South Carolina, The Sun News reported that the bills for death penalty cases are "skyrocketing" because of a state supreme court ruling that attorneys in death penalty cases deserve reasonable fees. Before the decision, attorneys received no more than $2,500 for each death penalty case.
*It took six years to extradite Charles Ng from Canada to California mainly because Canada resisted the prospect of sending someone to a possible death sentence. Since coming to California, the case has cost Calaveras County $3.2 million, an amount which would have bankrupt the county except for the fact that the state agreed to reimburse the county until 1995. Now it looks as though the bailout will have to last until the year 2000, with millions more in expenses yet to come.
*In Harris County, Texas, there are 135 pending death penalty cases. State Judge Miron Love estimated that if the death penalty is assessed in just 20 percent of these cases, it will cost the taxpayers a minimum of $60 million. Judge Love, who oversees the county's courts, remarked: "We're running the county out of money."
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/node/599#sxn5
