"Budget kills Hinds capital cases: DA says Hinds can't afford death-penalty prosecutions"

The title of this post is the headline of this notable local article from Mississippi.  Here are excerpts:

The Hinds County district attorney's office had been considering the death penalty against the suspects in the two unrelated [brutal murders] but now says, because of budget issues and other factors, seeking capital punishment in case of a conviction is now off the table.  "We won't be doing as many of those (death-penalty cases)," District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith said.

Hinds County cut about 70 jobs, delayed the opening of a jail expansion, denied departments' requests for new equipment, scaled back on contracted services such as janitors, and left less than $179,000 in reserve for the budget year that began Oct. 1.  The cuts were necessary because the proposed revenue of $56.3 million for fiscal 2010 was outweighed by estimated expenses of $57.2 million, officials said.

Death penalty cases are more expensive than others. When there is a death-penalty case, the jury is sequestered in a hotel and provided meals during the duration of a trial.  Longtime Hinds County Circuit Clerk Barbara Dunn estimates the cost at more than $15,000 for a death-penalty trial, depending on factors such hotel and meal costs.  The cost of a non-death penalty case would be significantly lower, she said. Another additional cost is the use of expert witnesses.

This article effectively spotlights how the high costs (and the uncertain benefits) of seeking capital justice is helping to slowly kill the death penalty in many jurisdictions.

Some recent related posts on the costs of capital punsihment:

• New DPIC report assails costs (and opportunity costs) of death penalty administration
• NY Times editorial assails "High Cost of Death Row"
• Georgia struggles to pay for a costly capital system
• The challenging economics of death causing problems in Chicago
• Great new (though still dated) examination of the death penalty and plea bargaining
• CNN now talking about the costs of the death penalty and state reforms 
• States considering laying off the death penalty during tough economic times
• The economic case against the death penalty getting more and more attention
• More discussion of cost concerns in debates over the death penalty
• Capital case cost concerns continue to inform reform debate
• Still more discussion of the costs of the death penalty
• "Opponents Focus On Cost In Death Penalty Debate"
• What might 2009 have in store for . . . the death penalty in the US?