Capital punishment in Pennsylvania

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.

Legal process

When the prosecution seeks the death penalty, the sentence is decided by the jury and must be unanimous.

In case of a hung jury during the penalty phase of the trial, a life sentence is issued, even if a single juror opposed death (there is no retrial).^[1]

State constitutional provisions require a unanimous vote of the Pardons Board to permanently change any life or death sentence before the governor can commute it.^[2]

Capital crimes

First-degree murder can be punished by death in Pennsylvania if it involves one of the following aggravating factors:^[1]

1. The victim was a firefighter, peace officer, public servant concerned in official detention, judge of any court in the unified judicial system, the Attorney General of Pennsylvania, a deputy attorney general, district attorney, assistant district attorney, member of the General Assembly, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Auditor General, State Treasurer, State law enforcement official, local law enforcement official, Federal law enforcement official or person employed to assist or assisting any law enforcement official in the performance of his duties, who was killed in the performance of his duties or as a result of his official position.
2. The defendant paid or was paid by another person or had contracted to pay or be paid by another person or had conspired to pay or be paid by another person for the killing of the victim.
3. The victim was being held by the defendant for ransom or reward, or as a shield or hostage.
4. The death of the victim occurred while defendant was engaged in the hijacking of an aircraft.
5. The victim was a prosecution witness to a murder or other felony committed by the defendant and was killed for the purpose of preventing his testimony against the defendant in any grand jury or criminal proceeding involving such offenses.
6. The defendant committed a killing while in the perpetration of a felony.
7. In the commission of the offense the defendant knowingly created a grave risk of death to another person in addition to the victim of the offense.
8. The offense was committed by means of torture.
9. The defendant has a significant history of felony convictions involving the use or threat of violence to the person.
10. The defendant has been convicted of another Federal or State offense, committed either before or at the time of the offense at issue, for which a sentence of life imprisonment or death was imposable or the defendant was undergoing a sentence of life imprisonment for any reason at the time of the commission of the offense.
11. The defendant has been convicted of another murder committed in any jurisdiction and committed either before or at the time of the offense at issue.
12. The defendant has been convicted of voluntary manslaughter, or a substantially equivalent crime in any other jurisdiction, committed either before or at the time of the offense at issue.
13. The defendant committed the killing or was an accomplice in the killing, while in the perpetration of a drug-related felony.
14. At the time of the killing, the victim was or had been involved, associated or in competition with the defendant in the sale, manufacture, distribution or delivery of any controlled substance or counterfeit controlled substance, and the defendant committed the killing or was an accomplice to the killing, and the killing resulted from or was related to that association, involvement or competition to promote the defendant's activities in selling, manufacturing, distributing or delivering controlled substances or counterfeit controlled substances.
15. At the time of the killing, the victim was or had been a nongovernmental informant or had otherwise provided any investigative, law enforcement or police agency with information concerning criminal activity and the defendant committed the killing or was an accomplice to the killing, and the killing was in retaliation for the victim's activities as a nongovernmental informant or in providing information concerning criminal activity to an investigative, law enforcement or police agency.
16. The victim was a child under 12 years of age.
17. At the time of the killing, the victim was in her third trimester of pregnancy or the defendant had knowledge of the victim's pregnancy.
18. At the time of the killing the defendant was subject to a court order restricting in any way the defendant's behavior toward the victim or any other order of a court of common pleas or of the minor judiciary designed in whole or in part to protect the victim from the defendant.

Death row

The execution chamber of the State of Pennsylvania is on the grounds of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections State Correctional Institution – Rockview. Most male death row inmates are housed in State Correctional Institution – Greene- while some are housed at State Correctional Institution – Graterford. 80% of all Pennsylvania death row inmates are held at Greene.^[3] Female death row inmates are housed in State Correctional Institution – Muncy.^[4]

History

Until 1915, hanging was the common method of execution. 1915 saw the first use of the electric chair, even though it was approved by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1913. The delay was due to the time needed to finish the Western Penitentiary in Centre County, now the State Correctional Institution – Rockview. On November 29, 1990, Governor Casey changed the form of execution to lethal injection^[5]

As of 2002, a total of 1,043 people have been executed in Pennsylvania since 1693,^[6] the 3rd highest of any other state or commonwealth in the Union, after New York (1,130) and Virginia (1,361).^[7]

As of 2015, 183 people were on Pennsylvania's death row.^[8]

In February 2015, Governor Tom Wolf, announced a moratorium on the death penalty, suspending plans to execute Terrance Williams for a 1984 robbery and fatal tire-iron beating of another man in Philadelphia. Wolf called the current system error-prone and expensive, and announced plans to continue to issue reprieves while a legislative committee prepares a report about the state's use of capital punishment.^[2]

Since 1976

Since the reinstatement of the death penalty by the Supreme Court in 1976, 3 individuals, all convicted of murder, have been executed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. All were executed by lethal injection, and in all three cases, they waived their appeals and asked that the execution be carried out.

See also

• Crime in Pennsylvania
• List of people executed in Pennsylvania
• List of death row inmates in the United States

References

External links

• Listing of Pennsylvania death row inmates