Publications & Testimony

Statement from the FDA Regarding Oversight of Lethal Injection Drugs and Release of Foreign Shipments to States: Jan. 4, 2011 “FDA releases this shipment, which is being imported by or on behalf of state correctional authorities. In keeping with established practice, FDA does not review or approve products for the purpose of lethal injection. FDA has not reviewed the products in this shipment to determine their identity, safety, effectiveness, purity, or any other characteristics.”

The information and analysis in DPIC’s recent 2010 Year-End Report were reported in hundreds of media outlets around the country. Among the papers writing editorials on the trends cited in the report were the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Colorado’s Aurora Sentinel. The Times’ editorial, “Still Cruel, Less Usual,” noted, “A report released this month by the Death Penalty Information Center counted 46 executions in 2010. That is nearly 12 percent fewer than a year ago, and down…

Following the release of the report from the New Hampshire Commission to Study the Death Penalty, New Hampshire’s Concord Monitor called for an end to capital punishment in the state. The Commission concluded a year of public hearings and careful study and chose by a 12 – 10 vote to recommend neither expanding nor abolishing the death penalty. However, the Monitor pointed out that the evidence presented to the commission was primarily in favor of repealing the death penalty. One of the many…

On May 29, 2007, a jury in Charleston, West Virginia, recommended death sentences for George Lecco and Valerie Friend for the murder of Carla Collins in order to protect their drug ring. Prosecutors maintained that Lecco arranged to have Collins killed and that Friend did the shooting in 2005. Formal sentencing was scheduled for August 23. The judge is required to follow the jury’s recommendation. These are the first federal death sentences in West Virginia since the federal law was reinstated…

Despite assistance from the county-supported statewide Capital Crimes Defense Fund, local officials in several Idaho counties are troubled by the economic burden of prosecuting death penalty cases. They are also concerned about a recent federal appellate court ruling that could overturn all existing state death sentences because Idaho’s sentencing procedures were deemed unconstitutional. Cassia County Commissioner Paul Christensen said that in addition to the millions of dollars spent to…

On Dec. 1, 2010, the New Hampshire Death Penalty Study Commission released its report to the governor. The majority (12 – 10) report recommended neither the abolition nor the expansion of the death penalty. The report did find that there is an added cost for the death penalty as compared to a life without parole sentence: “There is a significant difference in the cost of prosecution and incarceration of a first degree murder case where the penalty is life without parole as compared with the cost…

Gregory Wilson is scheduled for execution in Kentucky on September 16, despite having been represented by woefully unqualified and unprepared attorneys in his death penalty trial. It took over a year for the trial judge to find an attorney to take Wilson’s case. Wilson was indigent, and the maximum state fee for a capital-murder representation was $2,500. The judge even put a note on his courthouse door, saying: “PLEASE HELP. DESPERATE. THIS CASE CANNOT BE CONTINUED AGAIN.” Eventually, two…

Montana Assistant Attorney General John Connor has voiced support for a legislative measure that would abolish capital punishment in his state. Stating his belief that the death penalty does not deter crime and is expensive, Connor told the Montana House Judiciary Committee, “It seems to me to be the ultimate incongruity to say we respect life so much that we’re going to dedicate all our money, all our resources, our legal expertise and our entire system to try and take your life… . Frankly, I…