Death penalty ban called ‘insult’ to victims’ families

Tuesday, May 1, 2001 | 10:50 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, a captain in the Henderson Police Department, says a bill calling for a two-year moratorium on the death penalty is making "martyrs out of murderers" and is an "insult" to the families of the victims.

Perkins, D-Henderson, was joined by the state attorney general's office, police and prosecutors in opposing Senate Bill 254, which calls for a two-year hiatus on the death penalty as it is being studied.

Defense lawyers and religious leaders called for a temporary halt to executions to show how unfairly the death penalty is meted out.

Testimony to the Assembly Judiciary Committee Monday centered on the moratorium and not on the study.

Sen. Joe Neal, D-Las Vegas, a key supporter of SB254, said 41 percent of those on death row are African-American, although Nevada's population of blacks totals only 8 percent. Those figures, Neal said, seem "to suggest it is more likely people of color receive that punishment."

Laura Fitzsimmons, a Las Vegas attorney, told the committee she has handled six death row cases on appeal; three people have been set free as a result. She said she has been able "to show these men were probably innocent." Every person on death row is poor, she said. Their attorneys, she said, were either inexperienced or overwhelmed by their caseload.

She said "horrible mistakes" are made and, "It happens way too often to ignore."

The Rev. Robert Stoeckig of the Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas was one of a handful of clergy who supported the bill. Sadly, he said, many back the death penalty. He added, however, that "More violence is not the answer. It is applied unfairly in racially biased ways." In regard to the issue of racial disparity, Perkins said that seven of the past nine men executed in Nevada since the late 1970s have been white. "I would support a moratorium on the death penalty if I could be assured there would be a moratorium on murder," he said. Less than 10 percent of those convicted of murder are on death row, Perkins said. A moratorium "postpones justice" and is a "final insult" to the family of the victim.

David Sarnowski, chief criminal deputy for the state Attorney General's Office, said these inmates cannot be locked up and forgotten. "They continue to rape, rob and murder while in prison," he told the committee. Ben Graham, deputy district attorney for Clark County, said there has been no demonstration that the present justice system is not working. And he said the vast majority of these crimes are being committed by those with low incomes.

Sarnowski and Michael Pescetta, an assistant federal public defender who handles death penalty appeals, agree there might be one or two convicted killers whose executions might be scheduled in the next two years if a moratorium was not enacted.

Pescetta said "economic and racial disparities are always present" in capital murder cases.

Sen. Mark James, R-Las Vegas, who supports the bill, said no one on death row had a "fully funded private defense." In contrast, he referred to the Las Vegas murder trial of Rick Tabish and Sandy Murphy, who were sentenced to life terms for the murder of Lonnie "Ted" Binion.

He suggested there were aggravating circumstances in that case, although the pair were defended by a high-powered team of private lawyers.

There has never been a study of the death penalty in Nevada, James said. And though the two-year study is being conducted, it does not do any harm to delay the execution dates.

The moratorium gained support of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Religious Alliance in Nevada, Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice, the Rev. Phil Hausknecht of the Lutheran Church in Las Vegas and the Rev. George Wolf, vicar general of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Reno.

Assemblyman Dennis Nolan, D-Las Vegas, was an altar boy for Rev. Wolf. And he said he now finds himself opposing the Catholic priest.

Assemblyman Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks, one of those supporting the bill, said his committee will take action later. The legislation must then go to the Committee on Elections, Procedures and Ethics, which decides which studies should be conducted in by the Legislature during the interim.

archive