During its first public hearing on capital punishment, the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission heard testimony from witnesses representing a broad spectrum of opinions. Almost all those testifying spoke against retaining the death penalty. Among those who testified before the 13-member panel were legal experts, religious leaders, murder victims’ family members, and exonerees such as Larry Peterson, who spent 18 years in a New Jersey prison for a rape and murder he did not commit.

During the hearing, Peterson noted that he was grateful that jurors in his case chose not to hand down the death sentence sought by prosecutors because “if you take a life, you can’t turn around and correct the wrong that has been done.” It took Peterson’s attorneys a decade to secure testing of biological samples using DNA technology. Those tests led to the reversal of his conviction and his release in May 2006. Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project in New York City, also testified about the issue of wrongful convictions during the hearing, noting, “It’s ridiculous …to assume that mistakes will not be made. We have demonstrated that there is a lot of error in the system.”

On the day of the hearing, a report entitled “Innocence Lost in New Jersey” was released by New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. The report focused on 25 innocence cases in the state and listed 8 causes that lead to wrongful convictions, including eyewitness error, false testimony, and a focus on winning instead of seeking justice.

In other testimony offered during the hearing, Lorry Post, who began his work to abolish the death penalty after his daughter was murdered by her husband, said the current death penalty brings no finality, is unfair, wastes money, and risks killing innocent people. “It creates a culture of killings, and it’s a horrible, horrible thing, which almost matches the horror of what some of us have lost,” Post stated.

The New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission was created by the state legislature, which voted in January to halt executions in the state while the fairness and costs of imposing the death penalty are examined. The Commission is to report its findings to lawmakers by November 15. No one has been executed in New Jersey since 1963.

(Philadelphia Inquirer, July 20, 2006, and Cherry Hill Courier-Post, July 20, 2006). Read an Executive Summary of “Innocence Lost in New Jersey.” Read more about the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission. See Innocence, Victims, and Testimony of DPIC’s Executive Director before the Study Commission.