How much does it cost to prosecute a capital case through to execution?
According to a November 4, 2007 New York Times article, “Capital Cases Stall as Costs Grow Daunting,” a 2005 study by the New Jersey Policy Perspective estimated that capital punishment had cost the state $256 million since 1983, including $60 million for defense, and the state had not executed a single inmate in that time. The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) dedicates a full section of its Web site to capital prosecution costs and their impact on small counties and statewide budgets. The Final Report of the Death Penalty Subcommittee of the Committee on Public Defense, Washington State Bar Association (December 2006), provides the following estimates: At the trial level, death-penalty cases are estimated to generate roughly $470,000 in additional costs to the prosecution and defense over the cost of trying the same case as an aggravated murder without the death penalty and costs of $47,000 to $70,000 for court personnel.On direct appeal, the cost of appellate defense averages
