The popularity of LWOP instead of death in Ohio

This local AP story provides a great account of the impact in Ohio of the state's recent creation of an LWOP option in cases that would otherwise be death-penalty-eligible.  Here are snippets from an interesting piece:

Prosecutors around Ohio, citing the ability to pursue harsh punishment without going through the complication and expense of a death penalty case, are starting to take advantage of the 2005 law, according to a review of state records by The Associated Press. The number of death penalty indictments sought statewide dropped 32 percent from 2004 to 2007, according to figures compiled by the Ohio Public Defender's Office.

Meanwhile, the number of life without parole sentences rose by more than two-thirds in the three years since the law took effect compared with the three years before, when 45 inmates entered prison with the permanent life sentence, according to the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Ten offenders have received the sentence so far this year....

The new law is attractive to prosecutors because of the cost of capital punishment trials and because juries increasingly prefer life without parole as a death penalty option, said State Public Defender Tim Young.

A death penalty trial can easily top $100,000 for a county as extra staff, investigators and psychological experts are hired by the defense and prosecutors. It's not inexpensive for a large county but can drain the annual budgets of smaller counties without help from the state.  "If you can come to a life without parole option without having to go through that cost and it satisfies the public's need for safety and punishment, then that makes a real reasonable outcome for everyone involved," Young said.