![]() ![]() Among the reasons cited for the higher cost in death-penalty cases were the requirement for appointment of death-qualified defense lawyers, more pre- and post-trial filings by both prosecutors and the defense, lengthier and more complicated jury-selection practices, the two-phase trial, and more extensive appeals once a death sentence had been imposed. Prosecution costs were not included because the District Attorney’s Office budgets were not broken down by time spent on each case. The study examined cost data from local jails, the Oregon Department of Corrections, the Office of Public Defense Services, and the Department of Justice, each of which provided information on appeals costs. ![]() The study also found that death-penalty case costs have escalated over time, from $274,209 in the 1980s to $1,783,148 in the 2000s. Excluding state prison costs, the difference was even more stark: $1.1 million for death sentences vs. Excluding state prison costs, the study found, cases that result in death sentences may be three-to-four times more expensive. The study, which examined the costs of hundreds of murder and aggravated murder cases in Oregon, concluded that “maintaining the death penalty incurs a significant financial burden on Oregon taxpayers.” The researchers found that the average trial and incarceration costs of an Oregon murder case that results in a death sentence are almost double those in a murder case that results in a sentence of life imprisonment or a term of years. There is not one credible study, to our knowledge, that presents evidence to the contrary.”Ī 2016 study by Lewis & Clark Law School and Seattle University found that 61 death sentences handed down in Oregon cost taxpayers an average of $2.3 million, including incarceration costs, while 313 aggravated murder cases cost an average of $1.4 million. The researchers said their results were “consistent with all previous research on death-penalty costs, which have found that in comparing similar cases, seeking and imposing the death penalty is more expensive than not seeking it.” They concluded: “It is a simple fact that seeking the death penalty is more expensive. Oklahoma capital appeal proceedings cost between five-and-six times more than non-capital appeals of first-degree murder convictions. The researchers wrote that “all of these studies have found … that seeking and imposing the death penalty is more expensive than not seeking it.” The Oklahoma study also reviewed 184 first-degree murder cases from Oklahoma and Tulsa counties in the years 2004-2010 and analyzed costs incurred at the pre-trial, trial, sentencing, and post-sentencing (appeals and incarceration) stages. Reviewing 15 state studies of death-penalty costs conducted between 20, the study found that, across the country, seeking the death penalty imposes an average of approximately $700,000 more in costs than not seeking death. The study, prepared for the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission researched the costs of seeking and imposing the death penalty in Oklahoma, and found that seeking the death penalty in Oklahoma “incurs significantly more time, effort, and costs on average, as compared to when the death penalty is not sought in first degree murder cases.” The study determined that Oklahoma capital cases cost 3.2 times more than non-capital cases on average. A 2017 independent study-An Analysis of the Economic Costs of Capital Punishment in Oklahoma-estimated that an Oklahoma capital case cost $110,000 more on average than a non-capital case. ![]()
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