Death Penalty Fees Bill Advances

The Assembly on Thursday approved without debate legislation that would make public the cost of legal representation for indigent criminal defendants who face the death penalty.

The measure, by Assemblyman Larry Stirling (R-San Diego), was approved on a 72-2 vote and sent to the Senate.

Stirling’s bill was prompted by criticism of a state law that allows lawyers handling death penalty cases for defendants too poor to pay for their own defense to delay a public accounting of their costs until the trial and all appeals are completed.

Stirling argued that the law makes the information secret for too long because appeals in cases where defendants are sentenced to death do not end until the conviction is overturned or the defendant is executed. No one has been executed in California since 1967.

“This bill is intended to remove the fact that defense costs are the only appropriation in the United States that are not subject to public scrutiny,” Stirling said.

The measure was opposed in committee by defense attorneys and civil rights groups, who argued that the legislation could prompt a public outcry that would lead to a reduction in funds for defending indigents.

Assemblyman Terry Friedman (D-Los Angeles), who is among the Legislature’s strongest opponents of capital punishment, said he has conceded that the bill will become law. He did not argue against the measure Thursday, and he did not vote for or against the bill.

“I gave it my best shot in the Public Safety Committee, and it’s pretty clear that the principle I was trying to bring to people’s attention was not going to prevail,” Friedman said. He said he was saving his political energy for the fight to save funding for indigent defendants in the face of the expected pressure to reduce it as a result of Stirling’s bill.

Under current law, defense attorneys obtain funds for consultants, experts and equipment by filing an application with a judge who is not handling the case in question. The application and the fact that it has been filed are confidential.

Stirling’s bill would require the costs in each case to be disclosed annually. No breakdown of the expenses would be required.

This year, San Diego County expects to spend about $3 million providing legal defense for at least 10 defendants charged with murder who might face the death penalty.

Stirling’s measure also requires prosecutors to report their costs for each capital case, although that information is already public and available to anyone with the time to compile it from county records.