Committee refers bill on death penalty

INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indiana Senate committee on Wednesday delayed a decision on a bill requiring the state Supreme Court to consider newly discovered evidence in death penalty cases.\nInstead, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to refer the bill to a subcommittee for further study, after concerns were raised that the bill as written would open the door for frivolous appeals.\nSen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, said the bill could allow death row inmates to postpone their executions indefinitely.\n"If you're in favor of eliminating the death penalty, this is obvious," Kenley said.\nGary Secrest of the state attorney general's office agreed.\n"We're looking at generating years of litigation, as well as outrageous expense," Secrest said. "And it sends a declaration that we don't have confidence in our system."\nIndiana has 38 people under death sentences, including a woman being held in Ohio. The state is challenging decisions to overturn the death penalties of three others who officially remain on death row.\nThe bill would require the state Supreme Court to consider previously undisclosed evidence as part of its automatic review of death penalty cases.\nThe court currently reviews only the legal aspects of a case. The trial judge rules on evidence.\nAny evidence that is discovered after a death penalty is imposed must be heard to prevent an innocent person from being executed, said Sen. Anita Bowser, the bill's sponsor.\n"Sometimes the rules themselves can preclude, they get in the way of justice," said Bowser, D-Michigan City. "We have to make sure."\nMembers of Amnesty International and the Sisters of St. Francis and several attorneys spoke in favor of the bill.\nLarry Landis of the Indiana Public Defenders Council agreed there were problems with the bill as written, but he offered to work with lawmakers to draft a bill that better serves its purpose.\n"I don't think we have thousands of people who are innocent. I think there could be some. We can make mistakes," Landis said. "I think we can do it in a way that provides fair review."\nNine people have been put to death in Indiana since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976. Two others sentenced to death in Indiana were executed elsewhere.