A while back I reported on H.B.6488 [bill text], which passed the Judiciary Committee by a 39-22 vote. I was wondering what happened to it. It seems that it was merged with S.B.895 [bill text]. The provisions seem to be the same. As of 5/11/05 it was moved to the foot of the senate calendar. Maybe some civics expert can tell me exactly what that means.

The OLR bill analysis says the following:

This bill makes three changes to death penalty sentencing hearings. In these hearings, the jury, or the court if there is no jury, weighs aggravating and mitigating factors to determine whether a person convicted of a capital felony is sentenced to death or life imprisonment without the possibility of release.

The bill requires the court to discharge the jury and sentence the
defendant to life imprisonment without the possibility of release if
the jury cannot reach a unanimous verdict within a reasonable time. The
Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that under current law the trial court
has discretion to impanel a new jury to retry the penalty hearing.

The bill requires the court to allow the defendant a reasonable
opportunity to make a personal statement in his behalf to the jury, or
court if there is no jury, without being sworn or subject to
cross-examination. This must occur after the evidence is presented and
before closing arguments in the penalty hearing. The Connecticut
Supreme Court ruled that the defendant does not have this right to
"allocution" in a death penalty sentencing hearing, although it is
generally allowed in other criminal cases.

Instead of authorizing the court to allow a victim impact statement to
be read in court before imposing sentence on the defendant, the bill
requires the court to allow a representative of each deceased victim to
have a reasonable opportunity to make a victim impact statement to the
jury or the court if there is no jury. This must occur after the
evidence is presented and before closing arguments in the penalty
hearing. The representative is an immediate family member of the
homicide victim or a person legally designated by the victim to
exercise this right. As under current law, a victim advocate must
assist victims in preparing a victim impact statement for the court
files.

This bill made it out of the Judiciary committee by a close 22-17 vote. Let’s see how far it goes.

Related Posts with Thumbnails