NCJ Number
222697
Date Published
March 2008
Length
69 pages
Annotation
This study assessed the death penalty's costs to Maryland taxpayers.
Abstract
Results indicated a strong, positive association between both the filing of a death notice and a death sentence and the cost of processing the case. The majority (70 percent) of the cost differential between a death notice and non-death notice case occurs during the trial phase. When considering the costs of death sentence cases versus cases in which a death notice was not sought, differences occur at nearly every phase of the case. Maryland reinstated the death penalty in 1978 as a sentencing option for individuals convicted of felony homicide; results indicate that an average capital-eligible case in which prosecutors do not seek the death penalty would cost Maryland taxpayers more than $1.1 million, including $870,000 in prison costs and $250,000 in costs of adjudication. An average capital-eligible case resulting in a death sentence will cost approximately $3 million, $1.9 million more than a case where the death penalty was not sought. In these cases, prison costs total about $1.3 million while the remaining $1.7 million are associated with adjudication. Between 1978 and 1999 there were 56 cases resulting in a death sentence, and these cases will cost Maryland citizens $107.3 million over the lifetime of the cases. The 106 cases that did not result in a death sentence were projected to cost Maryland taxpayers an additional $71 million. In addition, the Maryland Capital Defender’s Division cost $7.2 million. The estimated lifetime cost of capitally-prosecuted cases to Maryland taxpayers was $186 million. Data were collected from 1,136 cases where a murder was committed between 1970 and 1999 and the defendant was eligible for the death sentence; data were developed from semistructured interviews with prosecutors, defense counsel, and judges with capital experience. Tables, references, appendices