The True Costs of the Death Penalty

THE TRUE COSTS OF THE- DEATH PENALTY DEATH ROW IN OHIO As of March 1, 2013: 142 people on death row 41 MALE 1 FEMALE So far in 2013: 1 PERSON HAS BEEN EXECUTED • He was the 50th person to be executed in Ohio since 1999 • 4 more people are scheduled to be executed this year DEATH PENALTY COSTS Öne Õhio trial judge estimates a death penalty trial will cost 3-4 TIMES $$ as much as a life- Death Penalty Life-Without-Parole without-parole trial Trial Trial A study shows that death penalty costs average as much as $10 MILLION MORE per year per state than life sentence costs CASE-BY-CASE COSTS IN OHIO • $230.000 SPENT BY THE OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL TO PURSUE CAPITAL PUNISHMENT • MORE THAN $500.000 IN INCARCERATION COSTS FOR HIS 27 YEARS ON DEATH ROW MICHAEL BEUKE: executed on May 6, 2010 for a murder committed in 1983 • $90,000 SPENT BY THE OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL ON PROSECUTION • CLEMENCY WAS GRANTED DUE TO RICHARD NIELDS: ISSUES WITH MEDICAL TESTIMONY DURING THE TRIAL whose June 10, 2010 execution for a murder committed in 1997 was stopped • MORE THAN $534.000 SPENT ON HIS DEFENSE BY THE STATE OF OHIO • $64,084 SPENT TO PROSECUTE HIM JOHN W. BYRD. JR.: • $6,660 SPENT ON HIS EXECUTION executed on • $182.000 OF TAXPAYERS' MONEY SPENT ON IMPRISONMENT COSTS February 19, 2002 for a murder committed in 1983 CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THE COST OF THE DEATH PENALTY • Capital cases are more complicated and require more experts • Jury selection takes longer and is more expensive • Death penalty trials have two separate phases: conviction and sentencing • Both sides spend more on investigative costs • If the verdict is not a death sentence, taxpayers pay for extra capital trial expenses as well as the cost of life incarceration • Taxpayers also foot the bill for inmates' appeals • Death Row inmates are housed alone instead of with others and require more security Infographic provided by: Rion, Rion & Rion Rion, Rion & Rion www.rionlawdayton.com Sources: http://www.drc.ohio.gov/public/executionschedule.htm http://www.drc.ohio.gov/public/deathrow.htm http://punishablebydeath.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/this-mornings-execution- frederick-treesh-ohio/ http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/ohio-govermor-spares-life-death-row-inmate http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-ohio-judge-warns-high-costs-upcoming- death-penalty-trial http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty#FromDPIC http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/death-penalty/us-death-penalty- facts/death-penalty-cost %24