Joint
Republican Press Conference
Because of actions by the State Medical Board and
recent court decisions we are faced with a de facto
moratorium on the death penalty for first-degree
murder. This contravenes the intent of the law
and the will of North Carolinians.
The State Medical Board is a creature of the state
legislature. So is the procedure for executing
first-degree murderers. The courts will
act when they will. We must act now. The
voices of the victims silenced by murder must be
restored.
We must enact HB 442, introduced by Rep. Tim Moore or
SB 114, introduced by Senate Republican Leader Phil
Berger. They are with us today to discuss these
bills.
A Moratorium
on the Death Penalty is Unwarranted
One of the most important duties of any government is
the suppression of murder. I believe the death
penalty is the appropriate way to deter murder while
vindicating and reaffirming the ultimate high value
that we place on the life of the innocent victim.
Individual Moratorium: Death
sentences are already reviewed extensively by both
state and federal courts, and by the Governor. On
average, 8 to 15 years pass before executions are
carried out. Capital cases are reviewed by 47
judges, state and federal, all looking at claims of
error in the trial or claims of innocence. Each
murderer already has an individual moratorium.
Procedural protections are extensive:
Open-file discovery: In 1996
the General Assembly provided capital defendants the
right to complete post-conviction discovery of all
files, and may use such discovery to claim the
prosecution failed to disclose evidence the defendant
believed to be important.
Innocence Protection Act: In
2001, pre-trial and post-trial DNA testing was
augmented to prevent the conviction of the innocent.
No Death Penalty for the Mentally
Retarded: In 2001, the General
Assembly prohibited the execution of mentally
retarded defendants.
Prosecutorial discretion: In
2001, prosecutors were granted authority to use
discretion in deciding not to seek the death penalty.
Ironically, proponents of a moratorium now point to
the use of that discretion as an argument for a
moratorium.
Additional representation:
Indigent defendants facing the death penalty are
appointed two trial attorneys, and, since 1996,
capital defendants are provided two attorneys
post-conviction.
Proportionality considered:
The Supreme Court of North Carolina reviews all death
penalty cases on direct appeal for proportionality to
other similar cases. On the other hand the
Court does not have authority to reject a life
sentence and make it capital.
The Innocence Inquiry
Commission: In 2006, the General
Assembly created the Innocence Inquiry Commission to
insure we provide every avenue of relief for those
who claim to be factually innocent. I was
pleased to be the Republican House floor leader for
the 2006 Innocence Inquiry Act - Session Law
2006-184.
Innocence claims are rare: Of
43 convicts executed after North Carolina reinstated
capital punishment in 1977, none had a credible claim
of "actual innocence." 65% of those executed
have been white, which puts a new light on the claim
most were minorities.
Deterrence: Whether or not the
death penalty deters murder is debatable. I
believe the evidence is it deters some,
murders. A moratorium almost guarantees
criminals will not be deterred. District attorneys
are unlikely to try capital cases during a moratorium
since the considerable expense may well be for
naught.
Professors Marchesini and Cloninger of the University
of Houston found a 21-month court-imposed moratorium
in Texas probably caused 90 additional
homicides. Whether North Carolina would
experience a similar “surge” in homicide
during the two-year period of a moratorium is
unknowable but likely. If so this would mean
the “cost” of a moratorium in North
Carolina would include around 25 additional innocent
victims of homicide per year. This is
unacceptable to me. I have attached extracts of
many studies on deterrence.
These studies differ on the numbers of additional
homicide victims resulting from a suspension of
executions, but they are of the same order of
magnitude as the Marchesini study.
Conclusion: In view of the
safeguards and the exhaustive state and federal court
review of all death penalty cases, as well as the
absence of any actual demonstration of real systemic
problems in North Carolina resulting in the execution
of the actually innocent, a moratorium on executions
of murderers is unwarranted. A de facto
moratorium on the death penalty will cause real harm,
pain and suffering to the families of the innocent
victims whose voice must be heard.