House panel weighs bill to abolish death penalty in Washington

OLYMPIA – Families of murder victims and opponents of capital punishment testified Wednesday in support of a measure to abolish the death penalty in Washington, saying the costly and drawn-out appeals process only prolongs the pain of the crime.

More than a dozen people spoke before the House Judiciary Committee in favor of House Bill 1739, which would replace capital punishment with life in prison and no opportunity for parole. The measure, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Reuven Carlyle, of Seattle, also would require those convicted to work in prison in order to pay restitution to victims’ families.

Former Sen. Debbie Regala, whose brother-in-law was murdered in 1980 and whose killer was never caught, said she knows that families have differing opinions on the death penalty.

“I do think that all of them would agree with me that we would like the perpetrator caught and prevented from killing another person. Of course, more than anything what we would like is to have that family member back, but we know nothing makes that happen,” she said.

Regala, who sponsored previous bills to abolish the death penalty while in the Legislature, said the death penalty is not a deterrent to murder and is not good state policy. She said she believes life in prison is.

“It provides public safety, it lowers the cost to taxpayers, and it can ensure swift, certain, equal justice that we should all be concerned with,” she said.

The measure comes following Gov. Jay Inslee’s decision last year to impose a moratorium on capital punishment for as long as he’s in office. Inslee has said he supports the bill. The House committee is scheduled to vote today.

The niece of an 88-year-old World War II veteran who was beaten to death in Spokane in 2013 said she was glad the case was not eligible for the death penalty due to the accused teens’ ages. One was sentenced this month to 20 years in prison for the death of Delbert Belton; the other is scheduled for trial.

“Because there will be no long, drawn-out process of appeals, our family is already in the healing process,” said Tyana Kelley, of Spokane. “If we were forced to go through years or decades of hearings, trials and appeals it would just reopen this wound again and again.”

The only person to testify against the bill was Mitch Barker, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.

“Our prosecutors use the death penalty very, very judiciously,” he said. “This is not done arbitrarily.”

Currently, nine men are on death row in Washington. Death-penalty cases in the state are still being tried and continue to work through the system.