USA - Maryland. The Senate voted 34-13 today to approve SB 279 that would limit the use of capital punishment.

The Senate voted 34-13 today to approve SB 279, a bill that would limit the use of capital punishment but not ban it. Under the amended bill, the death penalty could be imposed only if the murderer’s conviction is based on DNA evidence; a videotaped, voluntary confession; or a video recording that conclusively links the defendant to the murder. The Senate reached a compromise on a death penalty repeal bill by amending the bill so as to restrict capital prosecutions. With a pair of amendments, O'Malley's bill was dramatically altered to prohibit death sentences based solely on eyewitness testimony and to require either biological evidence, videotaped confessions or videotaped crimes to proceed with capital cases. Speaking to reporters, O'Malley said the bill with the new evidence requirement is "a move forward" but acknowledged that it fell well short of what he is seeking. That bill now heads to the House of Delegates for consideration. Maryland has had a de facto moratorium on capital punishment since December 2006, the month before O'Malley (D) took office, after the state's Court of Appeals invalidated the state's execution protocols because they had not been adopted in compliance with the Administrative Procedures Act. The governor has since initiated a review of the protocols. 5 men sit on Maryland's death row. The state has executed five people since reinstating the death penalty in 1978, most recently Wesley Eugene Baker on Dec. 5, 2005 (see). (see also 27/02/2009).