Legislation being considered by a Missouri House committee would bar judges from sentencing someone to death in cases where a jury is deadlocked on a sentence. HB 2747 is sponsored by State Rep. Bishop Davidson, R-Republic.
“We are one of (two) states that have a circumstance like this where a judge can be encumbered with such a weighty decision, even in the face of a hung jury,” Davidson told the Missouri House Committee on Economic Development.
The other state is Indiana.
Michelle Smith, founder and Director of the Missouri Justice Coalition, testified in favor of the bill during Tuesday’s public hearing.
“We have had cases in this state where one or two people wanted the death penalty — the other nine, ten, or 11 did not — and a judge still gave a person a death sentence,” Smith said. “So, if we are going to have this ultimate punishment, it should be something that a full jury of one’s peers decide upon.”
Sharon Geuea Jones, with Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, also testified in favor of the bill.
“What we see is that this is rarely an issue, but when it is an issue, it’s a big one,” said Geuea Jones. “A hung jury doesn’t have to mean it’s six and six. It can be 11 and one, and that counts as a hung jury. And then the judge gets to make their own decision without any input from the jury.”
There was opposition to one portion of the bill that deals with the concealing or erasing of criminal records. But no one testified against the provision to strip judges of the authority to impose the death penalty when a jury deadlocks on a sentence.
A House committee vote on the bill could happen later.
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