Aug. 16 ILLINOIS: Case renews debate over death penalty Prosecuting accused killers has convinced Peoria County State's Attorney Kevin Lyons that Illinois' death penalty reforms are as flawed as the capital punishment system they tried to fix. Still, Lyons has no doubt about pursuing a death sentence for alleged serial killer Larry Bright, who authorities say confessed in the deaths of 8 Peoria women, burning some bodies in backyard pits then scattering the remains. The 39-year-old former concrete worker likely won't stand trial until next year, but his case has rekindled debate over an Illinois justice system haunted by innocent men sent to death row. Lyons contends the reforms, including a state-funded "pot of gold" for defense lawyers and mental health experts, are poorly veiled attempts to make death sentences too much trouble for prosecutors. Mixed feelings Supporters say prosecutors' complaints are proof of the success of the reforms passed after then-Gov. George Ryan cleared death row before leaving office in 2003 after courts found 13 men had been wrongly convicted. Lyons, one of the most vocal critics of the reforms on behalf of other prosecutors, lobbied against last spring's failed effort to allow death sentences only when a defendant's guilt was proven beyond all doubt, rather than simply beyond reasonable doubt. "Instead of striking a balance, the trouble we have with it is that the burdens and the hoops become so many and so detailed that it borders on the absurd," Lyons said. Supporters say the reforms - including added protections against false confessions, unreliable eyewitnesses and jailhouse snitches - are working. "I think justice is being better served," said Stephen Richards, head of the state appellate defender's death penalty trial assistance division. "People actually innocent or with reasonable defenses have a better shot at not being convicted and executed." 7 waiting on death row 7 men have been sent to death row since Ryan cleared it and an 8th has been sentenced to die but is awaiting a ruling to reconsider the verdict. More than 100 death penalty cases are pending across the state, court officials said. Objections to state fund During the 1990s, before Ryan halted executions in 2000, the state was sentencing more people to death. Illinois had a high of 17 death sentences in 1990 and a low of 6 in 1997, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics, part of the Justice Department. When Ryan emptied death row in 2003, he commuted 167 death sentences to life in prison and pardoned 4 men. Gov. Rod Blagojevich has continued the moratorium on executions. Lyons, a 5-term prosecutor, objects most to a state fund that has doled out more than $13 million to defend hundreds of death penalty cases statewide since it was established about 5 years ago. He said the fund pays for teams of defense lawyers who spend even more money on psychological exams for their clients, sometimes hiring several experts until they get the findings they want. The fund also pays for researchers who spend months sifting through an accused's background, seeking any evidence that might sway a jury if the case moves to the death penalty phase. "I don't suggest the defendant simply has a party of one, his attorney and that's it. I can't tell you exactly what the balance should be, but I know it shouldn't be how it is now," said Lyons, who has prosecuted about a dozen death penalty cases. It's too early to say how the reforms will affect Bright's case, which is still in its early stages. Eliminating bargaining chips Brown County State's Attorney Jerry Hooker said that by effectively eliminating the death penalty, the reforms have taken away a bargaining chip for prosecutors to seek prison sentences without parole that can spare victims' families from having to relive the crime at parole hearings. "If the legislature wants to have a debate on whether to have the death penalty or not, that can be done," said Hooker, president of the Illinois State's Attorneys Association. "But let's not make legislation that handcuffs prosecutors and keeps us from doing our job." Defense attorneys say it should be tough for the state to impose the death penalty. "That is the ultimate penalty and it's irreversible. They should know if they're going to do that they're going to have a fight on their hands," said James Elmore, one of Bright's court-appointed attorneys. Rob Warden, executive director of Northwestern University's Center for Wrongful Convictions, discounted prosecutors' criticism. "I've always thought asking prosecutors what we should do about wrongful convictions is tantamount to asking foxes what we should do with hen houses," Warden said. Death penalty opponents say more still needs to be done. "No human system can be devised that ensures mistakes or misconduct won't happen," said Jane Bohman, executive director of the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty. (source: Suburban Courier Press)
