Legislature(2009 - 2010)CAPITOL 120

03/02/2009 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY


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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ HB 101 EXEMPTIONS: LIFE INSURANCE; ANNUITIES TELECONFERENCED
Heard & Held
+= HB 13 PROPERTY CRIMES TELECONFERENCED
Heard & Held
+= HB 9 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT TELECONFERENCED
Heard & Held
+ Bills Previously Heard/Scheduled TELECONFERENCED
HB 9 - CAPITAL PUNISHMENT                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:34:20 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR RAMRAS announced  that the next order of  business would be                                                               
HOUSE  BILL  NO.  9,  "An Act  relating  to  murder;  authorizing                                                               
capital punishment, classifying  murder in the first  degree as a                                                               
capital felony, and allowing the  imposition of the death penalty                                                               
for  certain  murders;  establishing  sentencing  procedures  for                                                               
capital felonies; and  amending Rules 32, 32.1,  and 32.3, Alaska                                                               
Rules of  Criminal Procedure, and  Rules 204, 209, 210,  and 212,                                                               
Alaska Rules of Appellate Procedure."   [Before the committee was                                                               
the  proposed committee  substitute (CS)  for HB  9, Version  26-                                                               
LS0036\E, Luckhaupt, 2/18/09, which had  been adopted as the work                                                               
draft on 2/23/09.]                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
1:35:11 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
VICKI  OTTE,   Executive  Director,  Association  of   the  ANCSA                                                               
Regional  Corporation   Presidents-CEOs,  Inc.;   Chairman,  MTNT                                                               
Limited, noted that since 1970,  there have been 130 prisoners on                                                               
death row in the U.S. who  were found to be wrongfully convicted.                                                               
Once  a prisoner  is  executed,  she remarked,  it  can never  be                                                               
undone.   As  an Alaska  Native, she  explained, she  must loudly                                                               
object  to  HB  9;  Alaska  Natives  will  be  disproportionately                                                               
affected  by  this  proposed  change   in  sentencing.    Current                                                               
statistics  indicate that  in 2007,  Alaska's  population was  70                                                               
percent white,  and 15 percent  Alaska Native;  however, Alaska's                                                               
prison  population was  48 percent  white and  36 percent  Alaska                                                               
Native.     Native  people  represent   over  twice   the  prison                                                               
population as they do the free  population of Alaska.  It is very                                                               
likely, therefore,  that this proposed death  penalty will affect                                                               
Native  people twice  as much.   She  said she  herself has  seen                                                               
Alaska  Natives  accept plea  agreements  just  to "get  it  over                                                               
with,"  even  when they  were  not  guilty.   Additionally,  many                                                               
Alaska  Natives,  particularly  those  in  rural  Alaska,  cannot                                                               
afford legal representation.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS. OTTE relayed  that Clinton T. Duffy, former  prison warden of                                                               
San  Quentin State  Prison, made  the  following statement,  "The                                                               
death penalty is  the privilege of the poor."   Court systems all                                                               
over the country, no matter  how well intentioned, make mistakes,                                                               
she  pointed out,  adding, "We  cannot afford  to make  a mistake                                                               
with someone's life."  All studies  done on the death penalty and                                                               
the cost  of maintaining death row  prison populations illustrate                                                               
that it is more expensive to  execute a prisoner than to imprison                                                               
him/her   for  life.     Why   is  the   legislature  considering                                                               
implementing  something so  barbaric  at a  time  when the  state                                                               
cannot afford  it?  If the  legislature wants to spend  that kind                                                               
of money, she said, then  she challenges the legislature to spend                                                               
it instead on programs to keep  Alaska's young people away from a                                                               
life  of  crime,  such  as  providing  more  money  on  workforce                                                               
development.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS. OTTE shared  that her husband, who has spent  46 years in the                                                               
field  of  law  enforcement  in  Alaska  and  has  seen  horrific                                                               
examples of  what one human being  can do to another,  is opposed                                                               
to the implementation of the  death penalty.  Indicating that her                                                               
husband is  not alone in that  regard, she said that  most of the                                                               
law   enforcement  officers   in  Alaska   that  she's   had  the                                                               
opportunity   to   get  to   know   are   adamantly  opposed   to                                                               
implementation  of  the  death  penalty.   If  vengeance  is  the                                                               
legislature's goal,  then doesn't  serving life in  prison result                                                               
in greater suffering  for the inmate than death?   She encouraged                                                               
the  members to  go home  tonight, look  in the  mirror, and  ask                                                               
themselves  whether they  want to  be personally  responsible for                                                               
the death of  another human being, whether they  as Alaskans want                                                               
to lower  themselves to the level  of a killer, and  whether they                                                               
themselves would  take on the  job of being  the one to  push the                                                               
button to end  a person's life.  She said  that her assumption is                                                               
that their answers  will be "No."  In conclusion,  Ms. Otte asked                                                               
members to please not pass HB 9 from committee.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MS.  OTTE, in  response  to a  question,  reiterated that  Alaska                                                               
Natives are  overrepresented in the  prison population,  and that                                                               
people who cannot  afford legal representation would  be the ones                                                               
who would suffer the most.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
1:39:38 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHARLES CAMPBELL, after relaying that  he is a former director of                                                               
the   [then]   Division   of  Corrections   under   the   Hammond                                                               
Administration  and, in  various  roles, has  been involved  with                                                               
corrections and  criminal justice  for quite  some time,  said he                                                               
opposes  HB  9 and  has  opposed  all death  penalty  restoration                                                               
proposals since  coming to Alaska 30  years ago.  He  offered his                                                               
understanding that former Senator  Robin Taylor, who'd introduced                                                               
a  death   penalty  bill  [during  the   Twentieth  Alaska  State                                                               
Legislature], has since  indicated that he is now  opposed to the                                                               
death  penalty   because  of  all  the   incidences  of  wrongful                                                               
convictions.  Regardless that Alaskans  pride themselves on being                                                               
different and not  much inclined to be influenced  by what people                                                               
think or  do elsewhere,  Mr. Campbell  opined, it  is not  a good                                                               
idea  to   ignore  the  experience  and   tough  lessons  learned                                                               
elsewhere with  regard to the  death penalty,  particularly given                                                               
that  quite  a  few  jurisdictions across  the  country  are  now                                                               
looking, for  fiscal reasons,  at ways  to discontinue  all death                                                               
penalty prosecutions, and given  that legislation to repeal death                                                               
penalty statutes  is under serious consideration  in seven states                                                               
- with repeal likely to occur in three of those states.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
MR. CAMPBELL  posited that it  has become quite obvious  that the                                                               
death  penalty  is  the  most  problematic  and  useless  of  all                                                               
criminal  justice  sanctions  -  and  extremely  expensive.    He                                                               
surmised that others  have already spoken on  the death penalty's                                                               
inordinate cost, its  lack of value as a deterrent,  and its lack                                                               
of  fairness  in  application.   He  emphasized  that  the  death                                                               
penalty is  destructive to  the families of  murder victims.   He                                                               
offered his  understanding that in  1972, the U.S.  Supreme Court                                                               
struck down the use of  the death penalty throughout the country,                                                               
and  then,  after  four  years, the  Gregg  v.  Georgia  decision                                                             
restored  the constitutionality  of capital  punishment but  with                                                               
very  stringent  requirements,  and  so the  appeals  of  capital                                                               
punishment cases  now take many  years -  never less than  six or                                                               
seven  years  - and  meanwhile  the  families of  murder  victims                                                               
cannot properly get  on with their grieving,  cannot have closure                                                               
to the terrible tragedy they've experienced.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR.  CAMPBELL  surmised  that  these  delays  tend  to  encourage                                                               
ongoing bitterness,  frustration, and unhappiness for  years.  It                                                               
is so much  better, he opined, when the matter  can be settled in                                                               
a  year  or  two as  is  the  case  in  Alaska and  other  states                                                               
enlightened  enough to  not  have the  death  penalty; a  99-year                                                               
sentence  with appeals  exhausted within  a year  or two  is more                                                               
useful in bringing  closure.  In conclusion, he  urged members to                                                               
listen to  the pleas  and advice of  all those  who've testified,                                                               
and to  lay "this  ill-considered death  penalty idea  aside once                                                               
and for all."                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MR. CAMPBELL,  in response to  questions, said that  although the                                                               
loved ones  of a  murdered person  may not  ever have  closure, a                                                               
punishment  that   is  actually  administered  comes   closer  to                                                               
providing closure; that  even if it could be shown  that the cost                                                               
of execution  was less than  the cost of  lifetime incarceration,                                                               
he would  not change his mind;  and that even if  it were certain                                                               
that  an innocent  person would  not  be executed,  he would  not                                                               
change his  mind.  Remarking that  he has been involved  with the                                                               
field of  corrections for 60 years,  he said he has  been opposed                                                               
to  the death  penalty  for  much longer  than  that  due to  the                                                               
teachings  of his  father -  a Baptist  preacher during  the time                                                               
that Bruno Hauptmann  was on death row; his father  made it clear                                                               
to  him that  the  death penalty  was wrong.    Convinced by  the                                                               
evidence, he added, he also  happens to have strong moral beliefs                                                               
[against] the death penalty.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
1:46:55 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
GEORGE SILIDES, Reverend, Rector,  Holy Trinity Episcopal Church,                                                               
noting that  prior speakers have  already addressed [many  of the                                                               
points he  was going to  raise], said that the  Episcopal church,                                                               
as  a  denomination, has  gone  on  record  since 1958  as  being                                                               
opposed to the  death penalty, and that members  of the Episcopal                                                               
church, in large,  in Alaska, are very much opposed  to the death                                                               
penalty.   He  said that  as the  former vicar  of St.  Stephen's                                                               
Episcopal  Church   in  Fort  Yukon,  Alaska,   and  as  regional                                                               
missioner  along  the  Yukon  [River] -  from  Eagle  to  Stevens                                                               
Village -  he's worked among people  who didn't have the  kind of                                                               
law enforcement  presence that  might have  been helpful  in many                                                               
kinds  of criminal  cases.   He  said he  finds  it difficult  to                                                               
believe that the State -  already lacking the resources necessary                                                               
to do  a proper job of  investigating lesser crimes -  has at its                                                               
disposal  the resources  necessary  to  properly investigate  the                                                               
circumstances  surrounding a  death  penalty  case sufficient  to                                                               
justify executing  someone - something  that can never  be undone                                                               
should exculpatory evidence later come to light.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
FATHER SILIDES  explained that for  12 years, as a  priest living                                                               
in San  Francisco, California, it  was his  unfortunate privilege                                                               
and honor to  make regular visits to San Quentin  State Prison as                                                               
part of a  renewal ministry, and to stand vigil  outside the gate                                                               
of  the prison  at every  execution.   The  emotions of  everyone                                                               
outside the prison  gate - regardless of which side  of the death                                                               
penalty issue they  were on - were the same  every single time an                                                               
execution occurred.  He said  that although some would argue that                                                               
it  is helpful  for [the  legislature and  Alaska's citizens]  to                                                               
have  the conversation  HB  9 is  engendering,  the vitriol  that                                                               
would  arise once  a  law like  HB  9 is  passed  "is beyond  the                                                               
understanding of any of those who  have not witnessed it."  [That                                                               
vitriol] would  deeply rend the  social fabric of the  state and,                                                               
in  particular,  whenever  an   execution  takes  place,  of  the                                                               
community where the death house is located.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
FATHER SILIDES  predicted that  those who  aren't present  at any                                                               
execution that takes place will  lob [verbal] bombs at each other                                                               
via e-mail  and the Internet  and media  sound bites.   This does                                                               
nothing, he opined,  to enhance the quality of life  for the rest                                                               
of  the  citizens  of  the  state as  they,  at  each  and  every                                                               
execution, go  through the process  of debating "whether  this is                                                               
the  person,  this time,  who  should  properly be  executed,  or                                                               
whether,  perhaps,  we  might  be able  convince  someone  of  an                                                               
extenuating  [circumstance] that  prevents  us  [from] having  to                                                               
take responsibility  for ending  another human  life."   He urged                                                               
the committee to  not put the state in the  position of having to                                                               
undergo the same  kind of agony that plagues the  states with the                                                               
death penalty each and every time an execution takes place.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:52:02 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
FATHER SILIDES, in response to the  question of what he would say                                                               
to the family member of a  murder victim, said that from personal                                                               
experience, there is no final  comfort to be provided by himself,                                                               
though some  comfort can be given  when "one meets the  person in                                                               
their  pain  and acknowledges  it  and  says  that the  crime  is                                                               
heinous and the pain is beyond  measure."  The moral depravity of                                                               
the person  who may  have committed  the crime  is not  at issue;                                                               
instead at issue is the  moral strength, fabric, and ongoing life                                                               
of the  person who  is suffering,  the one  who's lost,  and what                                                               
kind of life does he/she want to live going forward.  He added:                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
     That isn't  heard, sometimes, immediately, but  it does                                                                    
     seem to  take seed ...,  does seem to come  to fruition                                                                    
     later, that  they do  not want to,  in any  way, become                                                                    
     the  person who  committed the  crime. ...  It takes  a                                                                    
     deep  relating to  a  person  to be  able  to say  what                                                                    
     follows from  that. ... There  is no generic  answer to                                                                    
     the question other  than, most of the  time, the answer                                                                    
     lies at ...  who they are and who they  wish to become,                                                                    
     and the journey  is going to be  through terrible pain,                                                                    
     in any case.   But I guess my counsel  has always been,                                                                    
     "Do you  want to be  responsible, for the rest  of your                                                                    
     life, should  you ever  come to a  clarity of  mind and                                                                    
     peace about  the death,  to have  it infected  by being                                                                    
     responsible for further injury."                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
FATHER SILIDES,  in response to  another question, said  that the                                                               
responsibility  of   every  [murder]   is  always  that   of  the                                                               
perpetrator  -  the crime  lies  with  the  person who  does  the                                                               
killing - regardless of whether  he/she is a convicted killer who                                                               
escapes  from  prison  or  is   released  on  a  technicality  or                                                               
continues  to [murder]  in spite  of  steps being  taken to  stop                                                               
him/her; the actual  criminal behavior is his/hers.   He said his                                                               
counsel is, "the social fabric  is ours to preserve regardless of                                                               
those that seek to destroy it."                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL pointed out that  the State is tasked with                                                               
holding  people  accountable  and protecting  its  citizens,  and                                                               
surmised that  the question being  raised is whether  the current                                                               
justice system is adequate to that task.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
1:59:19 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
ALFRED McKINLEY, SR., Alaska Native  Brotherhood (ANB) Grand Camp                                                               
-  after mentioning  that  he is  a member  of  ANB Grand  Camp's                                                               
Executive Committee, and is a  delegate to the Central Council of                                                               
the  Tlingit and  Haida  Indian Tribes  of  Alaska (CCTHITA)  and                                                               
serves  on its  Judiciary Committee  -  posited that  one of  the                                                               
reasons why  the death penalty  was abolished  during territorial                                                               
days  was because  the people  of Alaska  recognized it  as being                                                               
discriminatory.   Discrimination is  still a problem,  and should                                                               
HB  9 pass,  only the  minorities  will be  affected.   Currently                                                               
Alaska Natives  receive longer sentences, and  often can't afford                                                               
to hire a  private defense lawyer.  Furthermore, there  is no law                                                               
enforcement presence  in many rural  villages, and thus  there is                                                               
no one  to address even the  problem of bootleg alcohol  and drug                                                               
importation.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR.  McKINLEY indicated  that  a former  police  chief, Frank  C.                                                               
White, Sr.,  relayed to  him that  back during  territorial days,                                                               
Alaska Natives would  get arrested for certain  things that white                                                               
people wouldn't  get arrested  for, and  were being  charged with                                                               
more serious  crimes than  white people were  for the  same acts.                                                               
He also  indicated that Alaska Natives  oppose capital punishment                                                               
because of the discrimination present  in the justice system.  In                                                               
conclusion,  he  referred  to   proposed  AS  12.58.010  and  its                                                               
stipulation that it  will be the attorney general  who would seek                                                               
the death penalty,  and pointed out that the  attorney general is                                                               
appointed and thus it's a political position.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE HOLMES, in response  to a question, explained that                                                               
the provisions  in the  bill referring to  the supreme  court are                                                               
referring to the Alaska Supreme Court.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
2:04:57 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
ALBERT  JUDSON said  he  is diametrically  opposed  to the  death                                                               
penalty,  and relayed  that an  April 9,  2007, a  report by  the                                                               
American  Civil Liberties  Union (ACLU)  illustrates that  of the                                                               
3,350 people on death row,  over 40 percent are African American,                                                               
and that a disproportionate number  of Native Americans, Latinos,                                                               
Asians, mentally  disabled persons, and poor  people comprise the                                                               
rest.    Use of  the  term  "capital  punishment" is  ironic,  he                                                               
opined,  in  that those  with  the  capital don't  get  punished.                                                               
Capital punishment  is not a  deterrent, either; states  with the                                                               
death  penalty  don't have  lower  crime  rates or  lower  murder                                                               
rates.   The death penalty  contributes further to  the disparity                                                               
of race  because there is  a rush  to judgment and  everything is                                                               
assumed  just because  the defendant  is a  member of  a minority                                                               
group.    Since  1973,  123   people  in  25  states  [have  been                                                               
exonerated  or released  from death  row], and  out of  those 123                                                               
people,  23 innocent  people  had  spent most  of  their life  in                                                               
prison, on  death row.  He  offered his understanding that  25 of                                                               
[the  123] people  have  been  executed, and  25  were found  not                                                               
guilty because of DNA evidence.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MR. JUDSON said  that in 1970, 55 people were  executed, and that                                                               
between 1980 and  1985, 20 people were executed; it  is not known                                                               
how many of  those [75 people] were actually innocent.   There is                                                               
a disproportionate  number of Alaska Natives  who are imprisoned,                                                               
and once they  are in the prison system, regardless  of what they                                                               
were  charged  with, they  simply  become  part of  the  woodwork                                                               
because of  a lack of effective  counsel.  He opined  that public                                                               
defenders are  not as  effective as  private attorneys,  and that                                                               
the points  he's raised  should be  considered by  members before                                                               
they go  any further with  HB 9.  In  response to a  question, he                                                               
offered  his belief  that the  disproportionate number  of Alaska                                                               
Natives  in Alaska's  prison system  is due  to a  combination of                                                               
things.    For  example,  when he  has  discussions  with  Native                                                               
leaders, the thought  is that the thing that has  had the biggest                                                               
negative impact  on Native  peoples was  the introduction  of the                                                               
current  financial system  because it  destroyed their  system of                                                               
bartering and their economic sustainability.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
2:11:55 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MONTE SHADE said  he is absolutely for the death  penalty and, as                                                               
a white person, favors the  execution of as many white candidates                                                               
as will  qualify for that penalty.   He said he  has never viewed                                                               
the death  penalty as a punishment  but only as a  deterrent.  He                                                               
then offered his  belief that the execution  of Russian deserters                                                               
during  the  campaign  against Berlin  decreased  the  number  of                                                               
deserters thereafter; that the execution  of Private Eddie Slovik                                                               
in World  War II resulted  in the end  of all desertions  by U.S.                                                               
soldiers; and that  the execution of Bruno  Hauptmann resulted in                                                               
the end  of all kidnappings  until after World  War II.   He then                                                               
mentioned the names of [executed]  convicted killers Martha Beck,                                                               
Raymond Fernandez,  Carla Faye Tucker,  Gary Gilmore,  John Wayne                                                               
Gacy [Jr.], and Ted Bundy, and referred to the Boston Strangler.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
MR. SHADE offered  his understanding that Cuba has  a "death rate                                                               
of  .02 per  100,000  residents, Turkey  .04  per 100,000,  Saudi                                                               
Arabia .04";  that "countless other  death penalty  nations" have                                                               
no problem at  all with murder; and that the  U.S. has a 16-times                                                               
greater per  capita murder rate than  the aforementioned nations.                                                               
Those [death penalty]  nations make an example  of the condemned;                                                               
they  don't  hide  their  execution,   they  display  and  widely                                                               
publicize  them,  and  this  slows   the  murder  rate  in  those                                                               
countries to a crawl, he  opined, adding that life sentences mean                                                               
nothing  as a  deterrent  in  those countries.    He offered  his                                                               
understanding  that  the  European  Union (EU)  spends  "tens  of                                                               
millions of dollars through U.S.  organizations" to fight against                                                               
or  abolish the  death  penalty in  the U.S.,  but  that many  EU                                                               
member governments are attempting to reestablish the death                                                                      
penalty in order to deal with crime, murder, and terrorism.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MR. SHADE went on to say:                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     Alaska,  too, is  a an  extremely murderous  state, and                                                                    
     due  to  the  2-minute  attention spans  [of]  so  many                                                                    
     residents, I  must bring to  their memory  the horrific                                                                    
     slaughter and  dismemberment of  a multitude  of Native                                                                    
     women  on  Chena Hot  Springs  Road;  also the  killing                                                                    
     spree from  Fairbanks to Manly Hot  Springs, the murder                                                                    
     of a  State police officer,  and a number of  others by                                                                    
     an animal named [Silka] ...  in Manley Hot Springs; the                                                                    
     (indisc.) road killings by ...  [a U.S.] Air Force NCO;                                                                    
     and then  also the  seven or  eight murders  in Bethel;                                                                    
     and who can forget the  baker from Anchorage who hunted                                                                    
     down  dozens  of women  as  if  they were  nothing  but                                                                    
     insects and  then slaughtered them.   The  one example,                                                                    
     though, kept  so quite in  the North and so  typical of                                                                    
     an  Alaska serial  crime,  though not  in  Alaska:   58                                                                    
     innocent   women   raped,   tortured,   murdered,   and                                                                    
     dismembered then  fed to his  hogs, which  he butchered                                                                    
     and  sold  to  dozens  of  Alaskans  traveling  through                                                                    
     British Columbia to Alaska.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
2:16:39 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
JIM  BETTS,  State Advocate,  Alaska  State  Council, Knights  of                                                               
Columbus,  said that  both he  and  the Knights  of Columbus  are                                                               
opposed to  the passage of HB  9, and expressed a  preference for                                                               
burying the bill,  not another body.  He stressed  that HB 9 must                                                               
be defeated.  He added:                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
     Remember that  we are an  evolving creation, and  we as                                                                    
     humans  are mandated  to improve  and not  diminish our                                                                    
     human  condition.    The idea  that  we  might  deprive                                                                    
     another human  [of] life ... as  quid pro quo -  an eye                                                                    
     for an eye - is an  old and untenable cliche.  The idea                                                                    
     that  the death  penalty is  a deterrent  - we  are not                                                                    
     convinced.   We must  not live in  a culture  of death.                                                                    
     ...  We are  not here  to create  another wrong,  if we                                                                    
     execute another  person who may  be innocent.   We have                                                                    
     alternatives; life imprisonment  without possibility of                                                                    
     parole speaks volumes to the  journey we have made from                                                                    
     crude logic, barbarism, and brutality.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     Let us evolve our actions, let  us set the bar of human                                                                    
     response above these base  animal [instincts], to leave                                                                    
     the  cruelty and  the nihilists,  and move  to a  world                                                                    
     where  we   turn  our  cheeks   to  kneejerk-punishment                                                                    
     reactions.   Now is  the time  to be  heard, unabashed,                                                                    
     certain and  resolved, that life  in any form is  to be                                                                    
     cherished.   Life  is precious,  from the  womb to  the                                                                    
     tomb, and,  as such, we  turn away from the  culture of                                                                    
     death and  create instead  a culture  of life.   Death,                                                                    
     and death alone, will be  the time for final reckoning,                                                                    
     and all humans will reconcile  with god - that judgment                                                                    
     is his and his alone.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MR. BETTS, in response to a  question, he offered his belief that                                                               
the goal  of incarceration is  to restrict the access  of certain                                                               
individuals to the general population.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
2:20:20 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MIKE  SMITH, Tanana  Chiefs Conference  (TCC), after  noting that                                                               
the  TCC is  composed of  the 42  communities and  tribes in  the                                                               
Interior, said that  historically, the tribes in  the region have                                                               
a well-documented  concern about  racial disparities  in Alaska's                                                               
justice system experienced by Alaska  Natives.  The TCC, in fact,                                                               
has a standing resolution on  this issue.  The statistics clearly                                                               
illustrate   that  Alaska   Natives   have  a   higher  rate   of                                                               
convictions, and  receive more onerous  sentences than  any other                                                               
racial  group  in  Alaska; Alaska  Natives  comprise  only  15-18                                                               
percent of  Alaska's population, but comprise  roughly 36 percent                                                               
of correctional-facility  inmates.  During territorial  days, the                                                               
majority of convicted  murderers were white, but  the majority of                                                               
people executed were Natives and other minorities.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
MR. SMITH surmised that the  critical issue is not whether people                                                               
favor  or  oppose the  death  penalty,  but  rather who  will  be                                                               
executed   under  the   death  penalty.     The   well-documented                                                               
imposition  of  the death  penalty  upon  innocent people  is  an                                                               
obvious  concern, but  of equal  concern is  the disproportionate                                                               
imposition  of the  death penalty  upon racial  minorities -  the                                                               
importance  of race  as a  factor  in the  imposition of  capital                                                               
punishment is also  well documented.  For  example, under federal                                                               
law,  the  death  penalty  may   be  imposed  for  certain  drug-                                                               
trafficking  crimes,  and  the  [U.S.  Government  Accountability                                                               
Office (GAO)] has  documented that 75 percent  of those convicted                                                               
under that law were white, but  that 89 percent of those executed                                                               
under  that law  were racial  minorities.   Racial inequality  is                                                               
injected into the justice system  at various points of discretion                                                               
exercised by  police, prosecutors, judges,  and juries.   At each                                                               
of these  points of discretion,  decisions are dominated  by non-                                                               
Native people.   This discretion  in Alaska and elsewhere  in the                                                               
nation disfavors  racial minorities, and acts  against their best                                                               
interest.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
MR. SMITH  said that the  TCC has  long been concerned  about the                                                               
disparate  treatment  of  Native  people by  the  Alaska  justice                                                               
system, and  that this  concern was  recently highlighted  by the                                                               
racially-charged Hartman murder trial in  Fairbanks in which some                                                               
people  feel  State prosecutors  used  what  he characterized  as                                                               
racial  arguments  and  circumstantial  evidence  to  obtain  the                                                               
wrongful conviction  of [three]  young Native men  in front  of a                                                               
predominately white jury.   Questions have been  raised about the                                                               
failure  of the  police  to make  serious  inquiries about  white                                                               
persons  of interest  in  this murder  case;  the Hartman  murder                                                               
trial has  raised serious concerns  regarding the  basic fairness                                                               
of the  Alaska justice  system towards  Alaska Natives,  and once                                                               
again reaffirms  the longstanding concern that  TCC delegates and                                                               
the TCC itself  have about such inequalities.   In conclusion, he                                                               
opined that  before addressing the  justness of a  death penalty,                                                               
Alaska first needs to address  the inequities within its criminal                                                               
justice system.   Until that time, the  question legislators must                                                               
face  is   whether  it  is   proper  to  execute   minorities  in                                                               
disproportionate numbers compared to their population.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
MR.  SMITH, in  response  to a  question, said  that  the TCC  is                                                               
concerned about  the disproportionate  penalties imposed  upon on                                                               
minorities.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  RAMRAS  expressed his  hope  that  racial injustices  will                                                               
become a thing of the past.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
2:26:45 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
DEBORAH  BLOOM said  she  is  heartened to  learn  that only  two                                                               
legislators  have  signed  on as  sponsors/cosponsors  of  HB  9.                                                               
After  relaying  that she  has  had  family members  who've  been                                                               
murdered and was  once raped in her own home,  opined that she is                                                               
therefore familiar  with the criminal  justice system  in Alaska,                                                               
adding  that she  is  absolutely opposed  to  the death  penalty.                                                               
Until it can be said  that there are "perfect prosecutions," that                                                               
there  is no  need  for appeals  courts, and  that  there are  no                                                               
innocent  people [being  incarcerated], there  is no  need for  a                                                               
death penalty,  because an execution  can't be undone.   She said                                                               
that she has proof of a  criminal prosecution in which the police                                                               
fabricated  evidence  to  show the  jury  and  thereby  committed                                                               
perjury;  this  illustrates that  Alaska  does  not have  perfect                                                               
prosecutions.     If  the  death   penalty  is   reinstated,  she                                                               
indicated,  then the  State should  also make  prosecutors liable                                                               
for any wrongfully  executed persons - they  should themselves be                                                               
charged  with the  crime  of "intentional  murder"  since it  was                                                               
their  intention  to seek  the  death  penalty.   Given  all  the                                                               
problems already existing in the  criminal justice system, Alaska                                                               
should not have a death penalty, she concluded.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
2:30:57 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
DON ROBERTS,  JR., said, "I  speak against this, ...  it's simply                                                               
wrong."   He characterized the arguments  for making [executions]                                                               
fast or cheap or racially fair  by executing more white people as                                                               
just side  issues which don't  make sense to  him.  It  is simply                                                               
wrong,  he  reiterated, regardless  of  any  steps taken  to  fix                                                               
inherent problems.   The sponsor statement speaks  of justice, he                                                               
noted, and said  he can't help but wonder  whether "that's really                                                               
a cup that you'd  want to drink from at the same  time; I see too                                                               
much in ...  our state that is unjust and  wrong, and people just                                                               
in positions that  they shouldn't be."  To take  a life is simply                                                               
the wrong thing to do, he  concluded.  In response to a question,                                                               
he said  that although  he would  want vengeance  against someone                                                               
who murdered  or raped a loved  one of his, that  is not justice,                                                               
and, again, it is simply wrong to kill a human being.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
2:35:27 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
JOHN NOVAK,  Assistant District  Attorney, 3rd  Judicial District                                                               
(Anchorage),  District   Attorneys,  Department  of   Law  (DOL),                                                               
characterizing HB 9  as an important bill, relayed  that he would                                                               
be speaking to the argument  that a sentence of life imprisonment                                                               
without possibility of parole is  an adequate sentence with which                                                               
to  protect the  public.   He  offered his  belief  that that  is                                                               
simply not the case - innocent  people are still killed by people                                                               
who  are  serving life  sentences.    He  then  spoke of  a  case                                                               
involving  Raymond Cheely  and Douglas  Gustafson, who,  in 1990,                                                               
participated in a drive-by shooting  on the Glenn Highway between                                                               
Eagle River  and Anchorage, killing  one person - a  passenger in                                                               
another  car.    Tried  separately,   both  Mr.  Cheely  and  Mr.                                                               
Gustafson were convicted  and each received a  sentence in excess                                                               
of [59] years.   However, while in prison, they  - along with Mr.                                                               
Gustafson's brother and  sister - plotted to kill  George Kerr, a                                                               
passenger in  their vehicle at the  time of the shooting  who had                                                               
testified against  them.  The  four conspirators made and  sent a                                                               
bomb to  Mr. Kerr, but  because he was out  of town at  the time,                                                               
the bomb instead killed his father and maimed his mother.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
MR.  NOVAK indicated  that the  four conspirators  had also  made                                                               
plans  to kill  the  trial  judge and  the  prosecutor in  [their                                                               
original  cases],  and  were convicted  of  [killing  Mr.  Kerr's                                                               
father] in federal court.  Mr.  Novak asserted that had the death                                                               
penalty been  available, it  would have acted  as a  deterrent in                                                               
that situation  because once  Mr. Cheely  and Mr.  Gustafson were                                                               
executed for  the original murder,  they wouldn't have  been able                                                               
to kill again.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
MR. NOVAK then  spoke of a case involving Tim  Donnelly and Peter                                                               
Schwin; Mr. Donnelly, while serving  time in federal prison for a                                                               
drug-related murder,  murdered another inmate.   Another case, he                                                               
relayed,  involves  Carl  Abuhl,  who, while  serving  a  60-year                                                               
sentence  for a  murder  he committed  in  Ketchikan, killed  his                                                               
cellmate.    During  Mr.  Abuhl's  subsequent  trial,  Mr.  Novak                                                               
asserted, Mr.  Abuhl confessed to  further murders and  said that                                                               
he  wanted  to  be  executed.    Mr.  Novak  indicated  that  the                                                               
aforementioned  cases  demonstrate  that  [convicted  murderers],                                                               
even while serving  prison sentences, continue to kill.   He went                                                               
on to say:                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     Is there  a way to  protect the innocent people  in our                                                                    
     community short  of capital punishment?   I submit that                                                                    
     there isn't.   I don't think there's going to  be a lot                                                                    
     of cases where  ... [the State is] going  to be seeking                                                                    
     the  death penalty,  but in  my  experience, are  there                                                                    
     some cases?  You bet.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MR.  NOVAK  shared  his  belief  that when  he's  spoken  to  his                                                               
colleagues  about  Mr.  Gustafson  and  Mr.  Cheely,  they'd  all                                                               
recognized  the  appropriateness of  the  death  penalty in  that                                                               
case.  Acknowledging that HB 9  might be improved upon, he opined                                                               
that there is no appropriate  less-harsh alternative to the death                                                               
penalty in the case of Mr. Gustafson and Mr. Cheely.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
2:46:03 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE HOLMES  asked Mr.  Novak whether he  is advocating                                                               
for HB 9.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
MR. NOVAK said  that on behalf of the DOL,  he is simply pointing                                                               
out the  need for specific deterrence,  but is not able  to speak                                                               
to whether  the administration  supports HB  9 specifically.   He                                                               
added, "What  I can  tell you  is based on  my experience  in the                                                               
Department  of  law:    the   Department  of  Law  believes  it's                                                               
appropriate in certain cases."                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE HOLMES  noted that prior testimony  indicated that                                                               
the Department of Law did not take a position on HB 9.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
2:47:08 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SUSAN  S.  McLEAN,  Acting   Deputy  Attorney  General,  Criminal                                                               
Division, Department  of Law (DOL),  to clarify, stated  that the                                                               
administration  supports   the  death  penalty  in   concept  but                                                               
believes  that   the  details  with   regard  to   what  specific                                                               
legislation it would support have yet to be worked out.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN  questioned whether the murders  committed by                                                               
the  aforementioned people  while  they  were incarcerated  could                                                               
have  still been  carried  out during  the  usual lengthy  appeal                                                               
process associated with death penalty cases.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR. NOVAK said "Certainly," adding  that in his experience, cases                                                               
that don't  involve the  death penalty commonly  go on  for years                                                               
and  years and  years.   In Anchorage,  he relayed,  the time  it                                                               
takes for a [murder] trial to  begin is commonly three years from                                                               
the time  a person  is charged.   He noted  that he,  himself, is                                                               
currently working  on murder  cases that are  more 25  years old.                                                               
The concept  that litigation on "non-capital"  murder cases stops                                                               
is just  wrong, he  concluded - "they  go on and  they go  on and                                                               
they  go on."   Throughout  all  that time,  he has  to call  the                                                               
family  members of  murder victims  and keep  them updated  about                                                               
their ongoing cases.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  LYNN  surmised,  then,  that  the  aforementioned                                                               
additional murders  could still have  been committed even  if the                                                               
death penalty had been in place.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
[HB 9, Version E, was held over.]                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                

Document Name Date/Time Subjects
CS101.pdf HJUD 3/2/2009 1:00:00 PM
HB101Packet.pdf HJUD 3/2/2009 1:00:00 PM
HB 101
HB13Support.pdf HJUD 3/2/2009 1:00:00 PM
HB 13
HB9Support7.pdf HJUD 3/2/2009 1:00:00 PM
HB 9
HB9Support8.pdf HJUD 3/2/2009 1:00:00 PM
HB 9
HB13Support1.pdf HJUD 3/2/2009 1:00:00 PM
HB 13
HB9Support10.pdf HJUD 3/2/2009 1:00:00 PM
HB 9
HB9Support12.pdf HJUD 3/2/2009 1:00:00 PM
HB 9