The Arizona Supreme Court recently remanded a death...

The Arizona Supreme Court recently remanded a death penalty case for re-sentencing to a county that does not have the resources to pay for it. By law, counties are required to fund a specialist to gather mitigating evidence for the defense to use at the sentencing phase. Some jurisdictions, however, do not have the money to pay for pre-sentencing investigation. The situation puts smaller counties in the position of choosing to pursue capital sentencing based on cost. This would make the application of the death penalty in Arizona arbitrary because those who commit capital crimes in the state's larger counties (Pima and Maricopa) will more likely be subject to the death penalty simply because of resources. Sen. Elaine Richardson earlier this year sponsored a bill to deal with the issue by siphoning state financial support for capital cases. The bill passed the Senate but failed in the House.