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For Immediate Release
July 8, 2009
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Senate Approves White's Capital Punishment Bill
Prohibits execution of persons with mental retardation, as determined by pretrial hearing.
Harrisburg – The state Senate
today approved legislation sponsored by Sen. Mary Jo White (R-21) that
establishes a pretrial procedure to determine if a defendant in a capital
penalty trial is a person with mental retardation.
Senator White has previously
introduced similar legislation following a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that
applying the death penalty to persons with mental retardation is
unconstitutional. The court left it up to states to determine how to implement
the decision. As with previous measures introduced by the senator and approved
by the Senate,
Senate Bill 628 establishes a pretrial hearing by a judge to make the
assessment. The House of Representatives has failed to act on the previous
measures.
"For seven years, Pennsylvania's
Commonwealth courts have been waiting for direction from the Legislature
regarding how the courts should determine mental retardation, and whether it
should be decided before or after trial," said White. "I think it makes the most
sense to have a pretrial hearing. To have courts go through the expense and
stress of a capital trial only to then determine it's not a capital case at all
doesn't seem logical. Senate Bill 628 will finally give our courts the direction
they need on this extremely serious topic."
Under Senate Bill 628, counsel for
a defendant in a capital case can request a hearing prior to trial to determine
if the defendant is not eligible for the death penalty due to mental
retardation. The burden of proof would be on the defendant. If the court finds
for the defense, the trial would proceed as a noncapital trial.
The bill also provides a similar
procedure for a defendant already sentenced to death with appeals pending.
The bill's definition of "a person
with mental retardation" is based on one used by the American Association of
Mental Retardation: an individual who has a mental disability characterized by
significant limitations in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as
expressed in conceptual, social and practical adaptive skills.
The bill will be sent to the House of Representatives for
consideration.
CONTACT:
Leigh Ramsey
(717) 787-9684
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