USA - Utah. Bill SB202 that shortens death penalty appeals was unanimously passed from the House Judiciary Standing Committee

A bill that seeks to shorten the decades-long delays caused by death penalty appeals was unanimously passed from the House Judiciary Standing Committee. HB202 — sponsored by former 6th District Judge Kay McIff, R-Richfield — would generally bar a court from issuing a temporary stay of execution following a defendant's 1st post-conviction petition. The bill also would limit public funding of defense counsel after that first post-conviction petition has been rejected. McIff said his bill is designed to discourage frivolous or untimely appeals while still allowing for claims based on new evidence, ineffective assistance of counsel or other issues with potential merit. Post-conviction petitions, which are filed following a defendant's direct appeal to the Utah Supreme Court, are a catch-all device in the process "to review anything and everything that may have been overlooked," McIff said. Following that review, McIff said, "the process is complete." But he said some death row inmates have filed for post-conviction relief up to 4 and 5 times — sometimes without good reason and sometimes by holding onto a meritorious issue "like a piece of jerky" you put in your pocket to eat later, McIff said. McIff said his bill was prompted by condemned killer Ronnie Lee Gardner, who filed his 4th post-conviction petition just a month prior to his execution by firing squad last June. By limiting stays of execution following the 1st post-conviction petition, HB202 would encourage defendants to advance their best theories as part of their 1st petition, he said.