One of convicted murderer Vernon Evans Jr.?s main arguments as to why he should not be put to death is a 2003 University of Maryland study that found race plays a role in whether prosecutors seek the death penalty.
“Maryland?s capital punishment system, especially as it?s imposed by Baltimore County, is unfairly hinged on race,” Stephen Hut, Evans? attorney, said in a recent interview with The Examiner.
Hut, in arguments to Maryland?s Court of Appeals, has pointed to University of Maryland Professor Raymond Paternoster?s 2003 study that found “offenders who kill white victims, especially if the offender is black, are significantly and substantially more likely to be charged with a capital crime.”
But a review of the Maryland study by The Examiner indicates the chief prosecutor?s attitude toward the death penalty in the jurisdiction in which the crime occurred is more of a factor than the victim?s race in determining whether the prosecutor seeks the death penalty.
“In the Maryland?s death penalty system, the jurisdiction where the crime occurs and legal prosecution begins is clearly one of the most important factors, and cannot be ignored,” the Paternoster study states.
“… There are state?s attorneys in Maryland who more frequently pursue the death penalty than others.”
Paternoster found the disparity most significant between the bordering jurisdictions of Baltimore City, where State?s Attorney Patricia Jessamy, a Democrat, rarely seeks the death penalty, and Baltimore County, where State?s Attorney Sandra O?Connor, a Republican, frequently seeks it.
“The probability that a notification to seek death will be filed in Baltimore County is over 13 times higher than in Baltimore City,” the Maryland study states.
Since the majority of potential homicide victims in Baltimore County are white and the majority of potential homicide victims in Baltimore City are black, each jurisdiction?s unique attitude toward the death penalty accounts for the racial disparity in death penalty cases, said Baltimore County Deputy State?s Attorney Steve Bailey.
Bailey said Evans? murder conviction was based on the 1983 contract killing of a federal witness ? who had agreed to testify against a major Baltimore drug dealer ? and the witnesses? sister-in-law.
Bailey said his office seeks the death penalty in every eligible case in which the victim?s family wants it.
“I defy anyone to come up with a logical argument that the case was only prosecuted based on the race of the victims when what you had was a contract murder of federal witnesses,” he said.
In Maryland, prosecutors can seek the death penalty only in first-degree murder cases, in which the defendant was the “principal” murderer and the killing involved another serious crime or the death of a law enforcement officer. The state does not allow death sentences against mentally retarded people or juveniles.
Percentage of cases in which county prosecutors seek the death penalty:
» Baltimore County: 65 percent
» Harford County: 54
» Prince George?s County: 38
» Anne Arundel County: 23
» Montgomery County: 19
» Baltimore City: 6
» Carroll and Howard counties had too few cases to be statistically significant.
Source: 2003 University of Maryland study
