---
title: 'NEW RESOURCES: Final Report on the Death Penalty to the Washington State Bar Association'
description: 'The Death Penalty Subcommittee of the Committee on Public Defense of the Washington State Bar has prepared a report on the state’s death penalty that will…'
canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-resources-final-report-on-the-death-penalty-to-the-washington-state-bar-association'
section: news
date: '2006-12-11T22:26:00-05:00'
updated: '2025-03-14T14:24:31-04:00'
source: 'Death Penalty Information Center'
---

The Death Penalty Subcommittee of the Committee on Public Defense of the Washington State Bar has prepared a report on the state's death penalty that will be submitted to the Bar Association's Board of Governors in early 2007. The Subcommittee was formed to examine the costs of the state's death penalty and to recommend whether the death penalty should be continued, given the expenses and the state's experience in carrying out death sentences. The Death Penalty Subcommittee was made up of supporters and opponents of the death penalty, all with extensive experience with the criminal justice system.  

 The report noted that since the death penalty was reinstated in Washington in 1981, there have been 254 death eligible cases. Of these, death notices were filed by the prosecution in 79 cases (31.1%). Death sentences were imposed in 30 cases, or 11.8% of the death eligible cases. Twenty-three cases have completed appellate review, and 4 inmates have been executed. Three of the four inmates executed waived part of their appeals, thereby hastening their executions. The other 19 cases were reversed, almost all resulting in a sentence of life without parole.  

 With respect to the costs of the death penalty, the report concluded:

> - At the trial level, death penalty cases are estimated to generate roughly $470,000 inadditional costs to the prosecution and defense over the cost of trying the same case as an aggravated murder without the death penalty and costs of $47,000 to $70,000 for court personnel.
> 
> - On direct appeal, the cost of appellate defense averages $100,000 more in death penalty cases, than in non-death penalty murder cases.
> 
> - Personal restraint petitions filed in death penalty cases on average cost an additional$137,000 in public defense costs.

The Subcommittee offered a series of recommendations regarding the state's death penalty, but declined to state a recommendation on whether it should be continued:  

 1. The State should provide full funding for all costs of prosecution and defense of  
 aggravated murder cases. State funding should include programs and policies to  
 assure high quality representation. The State should investigate the best model for  
 delivery of effective and efficient representation, including the possibility of a  
 statewide public defender agency for aggravated murder cases.  
 2. The defense team in a death penalty case should include, at a minimum, the two  
 attorneys appointed pursuant to SPRC 2, a mitigation specialist and an  
 investigator. Psychiatrists, psychologists and other experts and support personnel  
 should be added as needed.  
 3. The funding agreement or budget for a public defender agency should provide for  
 caseload adjustment when a lawyer is appointed to a death penalty case, so that the  
 attorney may be able to devote the time and attention necessary to provide  
 competent defense in the death penalty case. The caseload adjustment may  
 involve hiring additional lawyers by the agency or a reduction in cases assigned to  
 the agency.  
 4. Flat fees, caps on compensation and lump-sum contracts for trial attorneys are  
 improper in death penalty cases.  
 5. Private practice attorneys appointed in death penalty cases should be fully  
 compensated for actual time and service performed at a reasonable hourly rate  
 with no distinction between rates for services performed in court and out of court.  
 Periodic billing and payment should be available.  
 6. The Subcommittee’s study has been limited in scope, and there are additional  
 topics concerning the death penalty which could be addressed in a comprehensive  
 study; therefore, the Subcommittee recommends that a separate task force created  
 by the Legislature should be dedicated to a multi-disciplinary examination of the  
 death penalty.  
 7. The Administrative Office of the Courts should provide capital case training and  
 resources for judges, the capital trial desk book should be kept current, and a  
 judicial mentorship program in capital cases should be established.  
 8. The Subcommittee recommends that the Washington Supreme Court authorize the  
 Capital Counsel Committee to create and maintain two lists of attorneys qualified  
 to represent a capital defendant in the trial court. The first list should include those  
 individuals who have demonstrated their qualifications, as defined in SPRC 2, to  
 serve as “first chair” in a capital case. The second list should include those  
 individuals who have not yet satisfied the requirements to serve as “first chair,”  
 but who are qualified to serve as “second chair” and who are interested in gaining  
 the experience necessary to be placed on the “first chair” list. Trial courts may,  
 but need not, appoint an attorney from the “second chair” list.  
 In addition, the Subcommittee recommends that the Washington Supreme Court  
 direct that the Capital Counsel Committee, when conducting its initial and its  
 yearly review of applicants, solicit information from judges before whom the  
 applicant has practiced, opposing counsel, co-counsel, peers and supervisors. The  
 sub-committee recommends that the Washington Supreme Court direct that the  
 Capital Counsel Committee pay particular attention to any declarations,  
 allegations, or judicial findings of ineffective assistance of counsel.  
 9. The Death Penalty Subcommittee recognizes that no single statewide rate can  
 account for the various factors that should be taken into consideration to determine  
 compensation for lead counsel in a death penalty case at trial level. The hourly rate  
 established for lead counsel in a particular case should be based on the  
 circumstances of the case and the attorney being appointed, including the  
 following factors: the anticipated time and labor required in the case, the  
 complexity of the case, the skill and experience required to provide adequate legal  
 representation, the attorney's overhead expenses and the exclusion of other work  
 by the attorney during the case. The subcommittee finds that the federal rate of  
 $163.00 (in 2006 dollars) is a reasonable rate of compensation for private lawyers  
 appointed as lead defense counsel in death penalty cases. The subcommittee  
 recommends that under no circumstance should the hourly rate for lead counsel  
 appointed in a death penalty case be less than $125.00 per hour (in 2006 dollars).  

 ([**FINAL REPORT OF THE DEATH PENALTY SUBCOMMITTEE**](https://www.wsba.org/docs/default-source/legal-community/committees/council-on-public-defense/death-penalty-report.pdf?sfvrsn=120301f1_14) OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC DEFENSE, Washington State Bar Association, December 2006). See [**Costs** ](/costs-death-penalty?did=108&scid=7)and [**Representation**.](/death-penalty-representation?did=896&scid=68)