ATLANTA, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Courts across the United States are facing financial challenges to effectively prosecute death penalty cases, a report says.
The New York Times reported Sunday that the rising costs of effective counsel in death penalty cases is becoming a concern amid a de facto national moratorium on capital punishment.
An Atlanta, Ga., judge overseeing the case of Brian Nichols, who was charged with shooting and killing a judge, court reporter and a sheriff's deputy in 2005, faces impeachment for delaying the trial due to financial concerns.
The Nichols' case cost the courts $1.2 million so far. The judge in the case, Hilton M. Fuller Jr., delayed the trial, saying it was unconstitutional to proceed if defense counsel were not being paid.
A case in New Mexico involving the death of a prison guard at the hands of two inmates was suspended because the pay for the defense team was too low to ensure adequate representation, the Times said.
A Utah judge faces assigning capital cases to lawyers because the $10-per-hour fee is so low, lawyers are avoiding the cases.
The situation raises further issues regarding the constitutional right to a fair trail.
Stephen B. Bright, a capital defense lawyer in Atlanta, Ga., said, "the right to counsel is as fundamental as it gets -- every other right depends on it."
