It’s time
Gov. Ed Rendell is frustrated. He has put more than 100 people on death row during his time in office and all 100 will likely still be on death row when his second term is up at the end of the year. Rendell, a death penalty supporter, has signed 113 execution warrants, but it appears highly likely his term will end without seeing any of them carried out. But Rendell isn’t unusual for Pennsylvania governors.
While the commonwealth currently has about 215 men and five women awaiting execution, including 50 who were sentenced back in the 1980s, only three men have been put to death since Pennsylvania reinstated the death penalty in the 1970s.
That’s because, in large part, to a lengthy appeals process that has resulted in a de facto death penalty moratorium in the state. In fact, the only three executions in the last 40 years involved men who had given up their appeals.
Rendell considers the death penalty a deterrent, but only when executions are carried out relatively quickly. And as his term is entering its twilight, he wants the appeals process capped.
“It’s very frustrating – it’s frustrating to the families, it’s frustrating to the police,” he said. “You can build anything in the world in three years. You should be able to have all appeals exhausted in three years.”
To an extent, we share Rendell’s frustration. If there is going to be a death penalty in the state, it needs to be carried out. And yes, some judges – critics point to the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals – may actively attempt to delay the process. But the death penalty is so serious and so final that an arbitrary time limit would be unwise and probably unconstitutional.
And it’s worth remembering that the appeals process is important. Since 1978, state courts have overturned 80 death sentences in the commonwealth and the federal courts an additional 44, said Harrisburg-based assistant federal defender Robert Dunham.
Defense lawyers with extensive experience in capital punishment cases contend that inadequate funding of criminal defense on the state level is the main reason for the lack of executions.
They have the numbers on their side as more than half of cases overturned were overturned because of ineffective defense lawyering.
They claim that all too often, death penalty cases are handled by inexperienced public defenders, who are more prone to mistakes that lead to such lengthy appeals later.
Two of those overturned cases involved Fayette County men and they illustrate the problems and frustrations involved with the current system.
Scott Blystone was sentenced to death in 1986 for killing Dalton Smithburger Jr., 24 of Farmington. In 2005, a federal judge ordered Blystone resentenced because his attorney failed to provide mitigating testimony which might have led the jury to give him life in prison instead of sentencing him to die.
However, Blystone’s attorney, a public defender, claimed that Blystone refused to allow him to present any mitigating testimony. The prosecution has appealed that ruling and it has yet to be decided.
Mark David Breakiron was convicted and given the death sentence in 1988 for the stabbing death of Saundra Martin.
In 2008, a federal judge overturned Breakiron’s conviction and ordered a new trial, claiming the prosecution failed to turn over evidence that one of its witnesses received benefits for his testimony. The prosecution countered that no benefits were ever given and that in one case that was dropped, the witness never even knew he was a suspect. Breakiron’s attorney in that case was also a public defender.
The prosecution is appealing that order and there was also a cross-appeal filed by Breakiron’s attorneys to overturn his robbery conviction.
So, basically you have two cases that were overturned decades after the trials were held on somewhat technical issues.
But considering that both cases involved young public defenders, you have to wonder if the defendants in both cases couldn’t have benefitted from having more experienced defense attorneys. Perhaps they would done a better job of dealing with the issues and one way or the other prevented the endless appeals, which have now dragged out for almost 25 years and show no sign of coming to a close.
No wonder the governor and the public at large are so frustrated with the death penalty. But the solutions are difficult.
The state could assign more resources for death penalty cases so defendants could get better representation. That could cut down on the appeals but you have to wonder with the state’s fiscal crisis where the money for more resources would come from.
The state could also eliminate the death penalty. But most lawmakers would shy away from that idea for fear of being criticized as being soft on crime.
So, we’re left with the current system of a de facto death penalty moratorium. It allows lawmakers to save face but forces taxpayers to bear the brunt of funding an expensive, endless legal appeal system. And in the end, much more often than not, the taxpayers are frustrated with the outcome.
Perhaps the time has come for residents across the state to realize the death penalty doesn’t exist in Pennsylvania anyway and do away with it all together.
The legislature should seriously study the issue and if the current system can’t be improved, then the death penalty should be outlawed.
The time and money saved could be used in numerous other ways that would have a real benefit for residents of the commonwealth.