SPONSOR:	Rep. M. Marshall & Rep. Keeley & Sen. Henry & Sen. McDowell & Sen. Simpson & Sen. Sorenson
	Reps. Barbieri, Blakey, Brady, J. Johnson, Kowalko, Mulrooney, Plant, Ramone, Schooley, Scott, B. Short, Viola, D.E. Williams, D.P. Williams; Sen. Cloutier

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

145th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 171

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE.

WHEREAS, there are 20 men on Delawares death row awaiting execution; and

WHEREAS, a judicial injunction prohibiting the execution of any of the members of Delawares death row may soon be lifted, which will cause several executions to take place thereafter; and

WHEREAS, the nationally renowned Cornell University Law School Death Penalty Project has undertaken a three-phase systematic empirical examination of how the death penalty operates in Delaware; and

WHEREAS, Phase I of the Cornell study, which looked at all cases where individuals were sentenced to death in Delaware since 1972, has been completed; and

WHEREAS, Phase I of the Cornell study has revealed the following:

Delaware sentences almost 5% of convicted murderers to death, which is more than twice the national mean death sentencing rate of 2.2%.

Of the 43 sentenced to death in Delaware, 24 (56%) were minorities and 19 (44%) were white.

While most murder victims in Delaware are black, in 70% of the cases in which the death penalty was imposed in Delaware, the victim was white.

The death sentencing rate in Delaware in cases where the defendant was black and the victim was white is 17.8%. This is more than twice the death sentencing rate in any other race of defendant-victim combination in Delaware, and significantly higher than the death sentencing rate in black defendant-white victim cases of all other jurisdictions studied by the Cornell Death Penalty Project.

There is a significantly higher rate of death sentences imposed for crimes which occurred in New Castle and Kent Counties than in Sussex County. Given that Sussex County has more murders and a smaller black population than Kent County, this disparity requires further study and findings.

; and

WHEREAS, Phases II and III of the Cornell study are underway and should be completed by early 2010. These phases will focus on all cases where the State sought the death penalty (Phase II) as well as all cases where the defendant was eligible for the death penalty (Phase III) toward gaining a better understanding of the significance of the raw data uncovered in Phase I; and

WHEREAS, the members of the General Assembly and the people of Delaware, while supporting use of the death penalty, wish to see it imposed in a fair and just manner; and

WHEREAS, several other states, including Maryland and New Jersey, have imposed a moratorium on executions pending further study of their own administration of the death penalty.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

SECTION 1. Amend Chapter 42, Title 11 of the Delaware code by inserting a new § 4209B to read as follows:

§ 4209B. Moratorium on Executions.

a. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 4209 of Title 11, no person shall be executed in the state of Delaware beginning on the effective date of this act.

b. This moratorium shall remain in effect until completion of the Cornell University Law School Death Projects Study of the Death Penalty in Delaware, and until the Governor and the General Assembly have had an opportunity to act upon its findings, or the beginning of the 146th Delaware General Assembly, whichever shall come first.

c. Prior to the expiration of the moratorium pursuant to this Section, there shall be a meeting, on a date to be determined by the Speaker of the House, of a group composed of the following individuals: the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Resident Judge of the Superior Court, a representative of the Attorney General, a representative of the Public Defender, and another attorney, to be determined by the Speaker of the House. The purpose of the meeting shall be to review and discuss the results of Phases II and III of the Cornell Study..