Comments on: How To Kill Death-Row Costs

By: Rex The Wonder Dog!

Rex The Wonder Dog! — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:24:54 +0000

I know the state is ALWAYS looking for lawyers to handle these cases b/c no one wants them, b/c 1) the client, and 2) the low pay.

The $54M in appellate costs may include everything, court, prosecutor defense.

By: Beelzebub

Beelzebub — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:16:38 +0000

Rex – I read that there are only about 100 qualified DP attorneys who handle appellate cases in the State of California for the 700+ DR inmates. Consider that this small population of attorneys received $54M for post-conviction appellate services in 2008. Do the math. That averages out to $540,000 per DP lawyer per year. Well above the $100/hr. mark. So somewhere along the line we are not being told the truth. Either the state and the feds didn’t spend $54M in 2008 on appellate legal services or the attorneys make much more than $100/hr.

By: Rex The Wonder Dog!

Rex The Wonder Dog! — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:20:58 +0000

Here is an article about NY where they state $300 an hour for death penalty lawyers is 3 times more than CA, which would be $100 an hour;

http://articles.nydailynews.com/1996-05-20/news/18004319_1_death-penalty-first-degree-murder-cases-court-appointed-lawyers

There is no big $$$ for these lawyers.

http://articles.nydailynews.com/1996-05-20/news/18004319_1_death-penalty-first-degree-murder-cases-court-appointed-lawyers

By: Rex The Wonder Dog!

Rex The Wonder Dog! — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:17:39 +0000

The $75 an hour is a number I have seen somewhere but cannot recall where. But, it is a serious problem for the state finding lawyers who will take these cases on. I will look for the costs of the appellate lawyers.

Here is a paper where a Nor Cal county hired a lawyer for a complex death penalty case at $75 an hour-don’t know if this was an appeal or trial- bottom of page 7;

http://aclunc.org/docs/criminal_justice/death_penalty/costs/why_does_the_death_penalty_cost_more.pdf

By: Beelzebub

Beelzebub — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:10:36 +0000

“The state has always had huge problems getting ANY lawyer to work these cases-much less good ones- because the pay was limited to $75 an hour”

Do you have a proof source that DP lawyers are limited to $75/hr? I realize that most DP lawyers are appointed. But they are not all public defenders. There are private attorneys on DP contract too.

“Wrong. Almost all of the money goes to the special confinement DP inmates are confined to”

I double checked the stats. And you are right. I was wrong. Although the appellate costs were significant they were not the largest expenditure. The 2008 study conducted by the CCFAJ revealed the total annual cost of the 677 CA DP inmates was about $135M. This is how it broke down: $20M – DP trials cost; $54M – post conviction appellate costs; $61M – DP housing cost. However, if you isolate the $54M in appellate costs that breaks down to an average of about $80k per DP inmate per year. @ your $75/hr. that would be 1066 hours (44 days) billed annually. That’s $2M in appellate legal fees for a DP inmate on DR for 25 years. IMO no DP inmate should be on DR for 25 years. By that time he should have either been executed or set free. Each of those inmates cost the taxpayer $200k a year on average. And in 2012 dollars you could tack on another 10-15%.

“If he was mentally ill he deserves as many appeals as it takes to prove it. I don’t know if he is nor does anyone else. Again, I am NO FAN of killers, but the law cannot be short circuited”

Post conviction it should not take any more than 3 years to determine if a man was sane or insane at the time of the crime. I’m not a shrink but if he fled the scene and tried to escape after the murder he must have known what he did was wrong.

By: Beelzebub

Beelzebub — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:56:42 +0000

That’s not a bad idea, The DA. Something has to be done to distinquish the slam dunks from the wobblers. I remember when they convicted Scott Peterson of murdering his wife and unborn child and dumping the bodies. As I recall he was given the death penalty based entirely on circumstantial evidence. No witnesses, no murder weapon, no DNA. Was he guilty of the murder(s)? Yes, most likely. But based on evidence presented in the case I think he should be entitled to a lengthy appellate process. Compare him with the guy who massacred the 9 people in Seal Beach. I believe the cops found the murder weapon in his car once he was pulled over. Eyewitnesses saw him exit the beauty salon after the gunfire stopped and drive away in the car that he was pulled over in. Now IMO only a corrupted system would allow a guy like that to sit on death row for 15, 20 or even 30 years and spend our taxdollars appealing his case. I bet that at least half of the 722 death row cases are slam dunks too.

By: Rex The Wonder Dog!

Rex The Wonder Dog! — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:42:09 +0000

Do you think the Seal Beach killer who took out 9 innocent people with the smoking gun deserves 20 years of appeals? There is absolutely NO DOUBT that he was the murderer.

If he was mentally ill he deserves as many appeals as it takes to prove it. I don’t know if he is nor does anyone else. Again, I am NO FAN of killers, but the law cannot be short circuited.

By: Rex The Wonder Dog!

Rex The Wonder Dog! — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:39:50 +0000

Let’s break down the costs. The CA Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice (CCFAJ) – allegedly a non-partisan organization – says that it costs about $120M more each year to provide for death penalty inmates than it would cost if they were housed as life in prision without parole inmates. That is about $166,000 per DP inmate. Over a 30 year period that works out about $5M per inmate. Nearly all that $5M is spent in legal fees.

Wrong. Almost all of the money goes to the special confinement DP inmates are confined to. The lawyers get paid peanuts. If a blue chip law firm did the work these DP lawyers do the hourly rate would be $600-$1000 an hour. $75 an hour is what a DP lawyer earns.

By: Rex The Wonder Dog!

Rex The Wonder Dog! — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:37:22 +0000

You see, they’ve turned the CA death penalty into a million dollar windfall program for insider death penalty lawyers.

100% false. 99.999999% of the convicted on death row are poor and have no money and have appointed counsel. The state has always had huge problems getting ANY lawyer to work these cases-much less good ones- because the pay was limited to $75 an hour. The dork prison guards are comped MORE than that.

By: Rex The Wonder Dog!

Rex The Wonder Dog! — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:34:35 +0000

Well, if money is the issue, then there’s a simpler way to save it: Start executing those on death row.

I am no fan of Charlie Manson’s in the world and they deserve the death penalty. The PROBLEM is you cannot trust the system. The system goes after those least able to defend themselves and ONLY those. Did you see OJ get slapped with a death penalty?? No, you never will see people of means get the charge. Too many dirty prosecutors have wrecked the system and it cannot be saved because you cannot legislate morality or ethics to dirty cops or prosecutors. Ask Mike Nifong.

One fairly well known and recent case;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_Three