Change to death penalty bill would allow volunteers to die

Wednesday, April 18, 2001 | 11:26 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Senate supporters of the death penalty have been successful in softening a bill that imposes a two-year moratorium on executions. A final vote could come today or Thursday.

The Senate, in a 12-9 vote, approved an amendment offered by Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, that would permit death row inmates to voluntarily be executed despite the two-year ban on capital punishment.

"We ought to respect their wishes" if they want to die, Amodei said.

Sen. Mark James, R-Las Vegas, who has pushed the moratorium, said this would amount to "assisted suicide." He said the state should not be put in the position "of assisting the death wishes of those who want to martyr themselves."

The debate, one of the longest in the Senate this session, at times turned emotional. Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, and Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, argued over who had the right to speak on the floor. The two continually interrupted each other, and Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt finally ruled that Raggio had the floor.

In the meantime Gov. Kenny Guinn is looking for ways to postpone Saturday's execution of Sebastian Bridges at the state prison in Carson City. Bridges has rejected efforts to seek a stay so that further appeals can be launched.

Bridges was convicted of killing Hunter Blatchford, his estranged wife's lover, in Las Vegas. Bridges told police it was an accident.

A spokesman said Guinn does not want to allow an execution to go forward, then see a bill for a moratorium reach his desk shortly thereafter.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Michael Pescetta said Bridges wants to die.

The bill had emerged from James' Judiciary Committee. It imposes a two-year prohibition on executions while a study, addressing a variety of factors, is under way. Sens. Mike McGinness, R-Fallon, and Maurice Washington, R-Sparks, tried unsuccessfully Tuesday to strip the moratorium from the bill, losing on a 9-12 vote.

Three Republicans -- James, Lawrence Jacobsen of Minden and Bill O'Donnell of Las Vegas -- joined the nine Democrats in defeating the amendment.

Amodei then offered an amendment to allow voluntary executions. It gained support from Democrats Terry Care, Mike Schneider, Valerie Wiener and Dina Titus, all of Las Vegas, and Ray Shaffer and Maggie Carlton, both of North Las Vegas. Republicans supporting Amodei were McGinness, Ann O'Connell of Las Vegas, Jon Porter of Henderson, Raggio and Washington.

Every senator who spoke favored a study on the death penalty, although they were split on whether there should be a moratorium.

The study will look at the race and sexual orientation of death row inmates; whether the defendants were younger than 18 or mentally retarded; the competency of the defense lawyer; whether jurors had a proper understanding of the law and jury instructions in capital cases; whether the death penalty is an effective deterrent against murder; the cost of prosecuting death penalty cases and their continuing appeals as opposed to life in prison; and the use of DNA testing.

McGinness in trying to stop the moratorium ticked off a long list of states that have rejected a temporary ban on executions. It takes an average of 12 years from the time a person is sentenced until appeal options are exhausted. Imposing the ban, McGinness said, "would be plowing new ground."

But James argued the bill does not abolish the death penalty. It maintains the status quo so that the study can be conducted, and juries can still impose the death penalty while the ban is in place."People who sit in death row cells will sit there a little longer."

Sen. Joe Neal, D-Las Vegas, said it would be illogical to allow executions while the fairness of the death penalty is being studied.

"No one in this House should believe they are more a man or a woman because they believe in capital punishment," Neal said. His bill, Senate Bill 254, initially called for the abolishment of capital punishment but was gutted in the Judiciary Committee. However, new language that called for the moratorium and the study was inserted.

Raggio, in arguing against the moratorium, said protections are already in place for death row inmates fighting execution, such as court appeals.

"The death penalty is warranted in certain cases," he said.