Manzanita
01-08-2005, 12:38 PM
New York's Death Penalty Law on Pataki's Priority List
Prosecutors say taxpayers are the only people being punished by New York's death penalty law.
That's because the law has been basically useless since a court ruled it unconstitutional in July.
District Attorney Mike Green is one of only two top prosecutors currently in office who have successfully tried a death penalty case in New York State. He was pleased to hear Governor George Pataki mention his desire to strengthen the law in his State of the State address Wednesday.
Green says he won't seek the death penalty again until the law is fixed. "If they want to fix it so we have death penalty, that works great. If they take it off the books so taxpayers aren't paying million of dollars, that's great, too," he told News 8.
The State Supreme Court said the problem lies in the sentencing guidelines given by the judge to the jury. Green says, "the legislature has to go back and draft new instructions. They basically have to give the judge parameters in terms of what the jury can be told at sentencing."
The Senate passed the revision last year, but the Assembly hasn't gotten to it yet.
The man whose job it is to defend such criminals says he hopes the Legislature studies the issue thoroughly. "Right now, the law for life in prison without the possibility of parole is fully functional. It's a fully functional statute that allows penalties to be imposed so the law is not entirely broken," says William Easton, a lawyer in the Rochester Capitol Defender's office.
Green says the issue needs to be resolved soon. For one thing, he says, tax payers are paying millions for a capitol defender's office that isn't being put to use. Easton admits they aren't as busy as they used to be. "Our case load has dropped. But we still have cases we're representing clients on," he said.
Green also says the broken law hurts those who have already felt enough pain. "I have to sit down with a victim's family and tell the family, whose son or daughter has just been killed, we have a death penalty in New York but the courts say we can't use it until the legislature fixes it."
Green plans to go to Albany and testify at one of the Assembly hearings at the end of the month.
http://www.wroctv.com/news/story.asp?id=16292&r=l
Prosecutors say taxpayers are the only people being punished by New York's death penalty law.
That's because the law has been basically useless since a court ruled it unconstitutional in July.
District Attorney Mike Green is one of only two top prosecutors currently in office who have successfully tried a death penalty case in New York State. He was pleased to hear Governor George Pataki mention his desire to strengthen the law in his State of the State address Wednesday.
Green says he won't seek the death penalty again until the law is fixed. "If they want to fix it so we have death penalty, that works great. If they take it off the books so taxpayers aren't paying million of dollars, that's great, too," he told News 8.
The State Supreme Court said the problem lies in the sentencing guidelines given by the judge to the jury. Green says, "the legislature has to go back and draft new instructions. They basically have to give the judge parameters in terms of what the jury can be told at sentencing."
The Senate passed the revision last year, but the Assembly hasn't gotten to it yet.
The man whose job it is to defend such criminals says he hopes the Legislature studies the issue thoroughly. "Right now, the law for life in prison without the possibility of parole is fully functional. It's a fully functional statute that allows penalties to be imposed so the law is not entirely broken," says William Easton, a lawyer in the Rochester Capitol Defender's office.
Green says the issue needs to be resolved soon. For one thing, he says, tax payers are paying millions for a capitol defender's office that isn't being put to use. Easton admits they aren't as busy as they used to be. "Our case load has dropped. But we still have cases we're representing clients on," he said.
Green also says the broken law hurts those who have already felt enough pain. "I have to sit down with a victim's family and tell the family, whose son or daughter has just been killed, we have a death penalty in New York but the courts say we can't use it until the legislature fixes it."
Green plans to go to Albany and testify at one of the Assembly hearings at the end of the month.
http://www.wroctv.com/news/story.asp?id=16292&r=l