NEW VOICES: Judge Calls Death Penalty ​“an outrageous way to penalize victims”

Maryland Judge Joseph P. Manck sought to lessen the pain and frus­tra­tion to the vic­tims’ fam­i­ly by sen­tenc­ing a defen­dant to life in prison with­out the pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole instead of the death penal­ty. In choos­ing a life sen­tence for Brandon Morris for the mur­der of cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer Jeffrey Wroten, Judge Manck not­ed that appeals in death penal­ty cas­es can stretch on for years. He cit­ed one case that has been going on for 25 years and said that vic­tims’ fam­i­lies often must sit through painful retri­als, lis­ten­ing to defen­dants ​“again, again and again.” Judge Manck told Wroten’s fam­i­ly that his moth­er was also mur­dered and that he under­stood their need for clo­sure. However, Judge Manck not­ed, death penal­ty tri­als and appeals can last many years with mul­ti­ple painful rehash­ings of the crime. He said, ​“It is an out­ra­geous way to penal­ize vic­tims.”

At the time of the crime, Morris was in Roxbury Correctional Institution, serv­ing an eight-year sen­tence for assault and rob­bery. He shot Wroten to death as he escaped from prison. Morris was appre­hend­ed by police short­ly after his escape. In mak­ing his deci­sion, Judge Manck also cit­ed mit­i­gat­ing fac­tors in the case, includ­ing Morris’ abu­sive child­hood. Morris had waived his right to sen­tenc­ing by a jury.
(“Inmate Given Life Without Parole In 2006 Slaying of Roxbury Guard,” by Raymond McCaffrey, Washington Post, January 29, 2008). See New Voices, Victims, and Life Without Parole.