Decision Due Today on Seeking Execution in Broderick Case

State prosecutors have filed papers alleging that “special circumstances” exist in the double-homicide trial of Elisabeth Anne (Betty) Broderick, raising the possibility that they will seek the death penalty for the 42-year-old La Jolla woman.

But Broderick’s attorney, Jack M. Earley, said Monday that he expects the prosecution to seek life without parole for his client, who is accused of murdering her ex-husband and his new wife last November.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Kerry Wells said she will announce her decision today, at Broderick’s afternoon arraignment in San Diego Superior Court.

Most states, including California, require juries to determine the presence of special circumstances before they may impose the death penalty. Wells’ office cited one of those circumstances, multiple murders, in papers filed Friday.

Earley said the prosecution’s decision did not change his strategy.

“I expected this all along,” he said. “They don’t file them in San Diego normally, but I expected them to be filed . . . because of the nature of the case.”

Broderick has pleaded not guilty.