Panel will hear experts on future of death penalty

Erin Neff

Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2002 | 9:46 a.m.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie wants the public to have its say on the death penalty, but she also is readying her gavel for a committee hearing this week.

Leslie, D-Reno, said she doesn't want to limit speech on the hot topic during Thursday's Legislative Commission's Subcommittee to Study the Death Penalty and Related DNA Testing. But Leslie realizes that if she's going to run a smooth meeting with a packed agenda, she has to be a stern committee chairwoman.

"Public comment will be welcome, but only as it is specific to the item we're discussing at the time," Leslie said. "I don't want this to be a political forum at this point."

National experts and lawyers will square off on a host of topics related to the death penalty during the all-day meeting at the Sawyer State Office Building.

The Legislature considered a number of death penalty reforms during the 2001 session, including an outright ban e and measures that would have prohibited the punishment from being given to mentally-ill people or children.

After months of political wrangling, the Legislature agreed only to study the issue during the interim. The study topics include the impact of alleged biases in the application of the penalty, juror understanding of the law and competency of counsel.

Thursday's session will begin with professors testifying on the effect of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, economic status and geographic location of defendants on capital case decisions.

Joan Howarth, a UNLV law professor, and Craig Haney, a psychology professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, are expected to testify.

Other experts expected to testify are David Sarnowski, chief deputy attorney general; Ben Graham, chief deputy district attorney in Clark County; and Michael Pescetta, assistant federal public defender.

"We've made every effort to engage experts from both sides of the issue," Leslie said.

The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m in Room 4401 of the state building, 555 E. Washington Ave. It will also be aired live on the Internet (www.leg.state.nv.us) by clicking on the "Listen to Meetings Live on the Internet" icon.