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Md. Senate approves death penalty bill
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Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley stops to shake hands with Republican state Sen. Larry E. Haines, after his presentation to repeal the state’s death penalty before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009, in Annapolis, Md. (AP Photo/The Baltimore Sun, Glenn Fawcett)
The Senate has voted 34-13 to approve a bill limiting the use of capital punishment, but not outright banning it.
Under the amended bill, SB 279, the death penalty could be imposed only if the murderer’s conviction is based on DNA evidence; a videotaped, voluntary confession; or a video recording that conclusively links the defendant to the murder. The death penalty could not be imposed for convictions based solely on eyewitness testimony.
The Senate-passed measures were introduced as amendments to the repeal bill by death penalty supporters. The DNA amendment, sponsored by Sen. Robert A. “Bobby” Zirkin, D-Baltimore County, passed 33-12. The eyewitness measure, introduced by Sen. James Brochin, D-Baltimore County, passed 24-22.
Maryland has had a de facto death penalty moratorium since December 2006, when the Court of Appeals invalidated the state’s execution protocols because they had not been adopted in compliance with the Administrative Procedures Act. The moratorium will stand unless the governor adopts new protocols following the stringent APA requirements, or the legislature amends the APA to exempt execution protocols.
Five men sit on Maryland’s death row: John Booth, Heath Burch, Vernon Evans, Anthony Grandison and Jody Miles. Wesley Baker, who was put to death on Dec. 5, 2005, was the last man executed in Maryland.
