In Maryland

"Further changes sought to Md. death penalty law," is the title of Julie Bykowicz's report in today's Baltimore Sun. You can view the text of the proposal, SB 404.

Five months after enacting tight restrictions on Maryland's seldom-used capital punishment statute, state lawmakers are considering another revision.

State senators dismissed a repeal of the death penalty last year in favor of a hastily crafted compromise plan. The new law means that prosecutors can seek the death penalty only in murder cases in which there is DNA evidence, a video recording of the crime or a videotaped confession by the killer.

It appears that just one prosecutor has filed capital charges since the law took effect Oct. 1. Wicomico County State's Attorney Davis R. Ruark is seeking the death penalty against James Leggs Jr., a registered sex offender accused of kidnapping and killing 11-year-old Sarah Haley Foxwell of Salisbury days before Christmas.

Sen. Norman R. Stone Jr., a Baltimore County Democrat, wants to add fingerprints and still photographs to the list of evidence that can be used to initiate a capital case.

Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger testified in favor of the bill Wednesday before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, saying "it makes absolutely no sense" to dismiss fingerprints and photographs but allow DNA and video recordings.

On the other side of the debate, Katy C. O'Donnell, chief of the state public defenders' aggravated homicide division, which handles capital cases, said lawmakers sent a clear message last year. "We don't want just reliable evidence," she said. "We want evidence with heightened reliability."

And:

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, a Democrat, backs Stone's plan, but it is likely to be a tough sell in the House of Delegates. The House committee that would consider the measure favors repealing the death penalty.

The Daily Record reports, "Measure would make more cases eligible for the death penalty."  It's written by Steve Lash.

Capital-punishment opponents and supporters clashed Wednesday over legislation that would permit the death penalty to be handed down in Maryland for murder convictions based on fingerprint evidence or a still photograph conclusively linking the defendant to the heinous crime.

The two sides, arguing before a Senate committee, disagreed on whether the controversial proposal would break a compromise lawmakers reached last year.

That compromise preserved Maryland’s death penalty but limited its application to murder convictions based on biological evidence, such as DNA, or a videotape linking the defendant to the slaying.

Capital punishment opponents said the current proposal, Senate Bill 404, would make death sentences more common in Maryland and increase the possibility that an innocent person would be executed. Fingerprints and photographs, unlike DNA and videotape, are highly susceptible to misinterpretation and distortion and increase the possibility that an innocent defendant could be executed, death-penalty foes told the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.

For example, attorney Stephen B. Mercer, who takes over next month as head of the forensic division of the state public defender’s office, said fingerprint identification is inexact.

“It is not science,” Mercer told the committee. “It is art. It is subject to examiner bias.”

Kathleen Miller writes the AP post, "Md. may allow more evidence in death penalty cases," via the San Francisco Chronicle.

Maryland prosecutors could use fingerprints or photos to link a defendant to a murder in death penalty cases under legislation being considered by a Senate panel Wednesday.

Last year, state lawmakers voted to limit use of the death penalty to murder cases with biological evidence such as DNA, videotaped evidence of a murder or videotaped confessions. But some senators, including the powerful Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, want fingerprints and photographs added to the list.

Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger urged members of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Wednesday to support the changes.

"If DNA evidence linking a defendant to a murder is a sufficient basis for seeking the death penalty, then why can't fingerprint evidence that links a defendant to the crime also be sufficient?" Shellenberger asked. "If a video recording linking a defendant to a murder is sufficiently reliable to seek the death penalty then why isn't a photograph?"

Those opposed to the measure questioned the reliability of fingerprints. Several pointed to the case of Brandon Mayfield, an Oregon attorney linked by fingerprints to the March 2004 terrorist bombing that killed 191 people in a Madrid train station. U.S. authorities were confident the fingerprints belonged to Mayfield, but Spanish officials linked the prints to another man and the federal government was forced to issue a formal apology to Mayfield and award him $2 million for their mistake.

And:

Last year, Gov. Martin O'Malley pushed for a ban on capital punishment that ended in a compromise limiting its use only to murder cases with biological or conclusive videotaped evidence. The governor said Wednesday he would consider the legislation to add fingerprints and photographs to evidence that can be used to bring a capital case, if it is approved by lawmakers. But he said he had hoped the matter was settled last year.

"I was very, very involved and engaged in this debate during the three years that we went through it," O'Malley told reporters. "I thought we came to a final decision and a resolution last session, and I'm interested in moving forward, not moving backwards."

Anne Bartlett posted, "Md. Senate panel weighs expanded death penalty," at the Washington Post Maryland Politics blog.

Last year's legislation grew out of Gov. Martin O'Malley's unsuccessful push to repeal the death penalty. The Senate heavily amended the bill sought by O'Malley (D) to allow capital punishment to continue but only in cases that meet the higher evidentiary standards.

Stone's bill is supported by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) but its prospects remain uncertain. The committee has not indicated when it will vote on the bill.

Earlier coverage from Maryland begins with this post.