Texas weighs new option in capital cases

AUSTIN, Texas, April 4 (UPI) -- A bill may soon come up for debate in the Texas Senate that would give juries the option of a sentence of life without parole in capital cases for the first time in the history of the state that leads the nation in executions.

The author, State Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., D-Brownsville, is a death penalty proponent but he said in an interview Friday he strongly believes Texas juries should have the same option that most of the 37 other death penalty states have in sentencing.

Texas, New Mexico and Kansas are the only three states where the jury doesn't have the option of a life sentence without parole. In Texas, a life sentence means a convicted killer could be paroled after 40 years in prison.

Although Texans strongly support the death penalty, a Scripps Howard Texas Poll conducted in February 2003 found that 72 percent of them favor changing the law to allow life without parole as a third sentencing option.

"There are people who feel there ought to be an option that somebody who doesn't get the death penalty but who continues to pose a danger to society should not be able to walk the streets again," Lucio said.

The South Texas lawmaker said the option would also offer more closure for the families of the victim than the current system. If a jury decided against the death penalty it could assess a life sentence with the assurance that the offender would serve a "true" life sentence, he said.

A critical death penalty study released last year by a team of law professors at Columbia University in New York included among its recommendations the option of life without parole. The study classified Texas as a high-risk state for faulty trials and sentences. More than 300 executions have been carried out in Texas since 1982.

Lucio called his bill "tough on crime" because it provides a new option for juries to keep dangerous criminals off the streets. He said it offers jurors another option if they don't believe execution is warranted but they oppose parole.

The legislation also adds a sentencing option of life without parole in capital cases where the state does not seek the death penalty.

"Since each defendant and each crime is unique, jurors should be equipped with all available options in order to select which punishment appropriately fits the crime, without weakening our penal system," Lucio said.

Earlier this week, the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice recommended passage of the Lucio bill on a 5-2 vote but the senator's work has only begun. In the last session the bill passed the Senate but it was defeated on the House floor in a narrow vote.

Next week, Lucio said he would begin counting votes in the Senate to see if he has the two-thirds necessary to bring it up for floor debate. The senator remains hopeful about passage this session but he's not making any predictions this early in the campaign.

(Reported by Phil Magers in Dallas)