Citing Cost, Judge Rejects Death Penalty
A judge in a small, poor Ohio county told prosecutors there this month that they could not seek the death penalty in the murder of a college student because the county's share of the defense costs would be too great.

The decision, which experts say is the first of its kind, is a rare judicial acknowledgment of the powerful role money plays in death penalty cases.

"The law acknowledges that capital cases are different and require enhanced due process, for obvious reasons," Judge Jeffrey L. Simmons of the Court of Common Pleas in Vinton County wrote.

Noting that such cases "require additional resources," the judge added: "While the court has authority to approve expenses, it would be disingenuous to suggest that a trial judge can consider such requests without an awareness of the financial impact on this county. The court finds that the potential impact of financial considerations could compromise the defendant's due process rights in a capital murder trial."

The defendant, Gregory McKnight, is accused of killing Emily Murray in 2000. Ms. Murray, then 20, was a student at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. She had been missing for a month when her body was discovered in Mr. McKnight's trailer, 80 miles away in Ray, Ohio, south of Columbus.

Mr. McKnight, 25, has also been charged with a second murder, in which the death penalty has not been sought. He was convicted of another killing as a juvenile in 1991 and served six years. He is now in prison on a burglary charge.

K. Robert Toy, who represents Mr. McKnight, said that his side's cost to try the case might amount to $75,000. With appeals and other postconviction litigation, total defense costs could reach $350,000, Mr. Toy said.

The state and county split defense costs roughly 50-50.

"What the judge is saying is that there's a death penalty in Ohio but not in Vinton County," said Joe Case, a spokesman for the attorney general's office. "There is nothing in the law that would allow the judge to dismiss the death penalty components of the charges. The people have a right to prosecute the case."

Judge Simmons was also mistaken about the financial impact of the case, Mr. Case said. "Regardless of whether it's a death penalty trial or just a murder trial, the cost is roughly going to be in the same ballpark," he said.

Gregory W. Meyers, the chief counsel in the death penalty division of the state public defender's office, disagreed. "There's a lot of procedural rigmarole that applies only in death penalty cases," Mr. Meyers said.

Capital defendants are entitled to two lawyers, while others get one. Jury selection is more complicated, as lawyers are entitled to inquire closely into jurors' views on the death penalty. Sequestering the jury during deliberations is required in capital cases and optional in others.

Most important, Mr. Meyers said, "The simple thudding reality is that for death penalty cases there are two potential trials: the trial phase and the penalty phase."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/18/national/18PROS.html