The Maryland House of Delegates approved a bill Thursday to restrict capital punishment to murderers who leave behind biological evidence, give a voluntary video confession, or are caught on videotape committing the murder.
The bill was hailed by proponents as a compromise between pro-death penalty and anti-death penalty lawmakers that would prevent the execution of the wrongly convicted.
But opponents, including the state’s attorney general, said the legislation’s requirements were so narrow that it would effectively nullify capital punishment.
“You have cleverly and successfully killed the death penalty in Maryland,” Del. Patrick McDonough, R-Baltimore County, said on the House floor.
One of 35 states in the nation that has capital punishment, Maryland has executed 314 people since 1638. Five people have been executed since 1978, the last one in 2005.
Five inmates are on death row. A state court blocked executions in 2006 over concerns about the legality of using lethal injection, an issue that not been resolved.
The bill passed the House 87-52 and has already passed the Senate. It now goes to Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley, who said he would sign it into law.
A staunch opponent of the death penalty, O’Malley had proposed abolishing the death penalty but backed the current bill after a full repeal looked unlikely to pass.
Death penalty advocates tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill several times Thursday to broaden its scope, including applying the death penalty to convicts who kill prison guards.
Supporters of the amendments said the death penalty was the only deterrent for prisoners who are serving life without parole.
“There’s nothing else you can do to them,” said Del. Michael Smigiel, R-Cecil.
After the House rejected a number of amendments, House Minority Leader Anthony O’Donnell, R-Calvert, said the mostly Democratic body was acting on the governor’s behest to hand him a political victory.
“It’s clear there was a dictate from the governor of this state, it’s clear that the fix is in,” O’Donnell said.
But other lawmakers said the bill was a product of legislative compromise that made the law better.
“No victim’s family wants to hear that an innocent person has been put to death as a result of the death penalty,” said Del. Craig Rice, D-Montgomery, a supporter of capital punishment whose aunt and cousin were killed by a hit man several years ago.
