State seeks death penalty in fatal shootings
By Sean Batura, Kerrville Daily Times, Texas | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
A grand jury recently indicted
"Right now, the state is automatically seeking the death penalty, but it can be waived at some point," said
Wilke said deciding whether to waive the death penalty involves taking into account many factors, including a defendant's criminal history, health issues and the details of the offense.
According to the
Knight has a pretrial hearing on
Capital felonies -- those in which the death penalty can be sought -- are typically more expensive and highly scrutinized by appeals courts, Wilke said. Local officials have said attorneys fees alone can cost between
But
However, Wilke noted a recent law may increase the costs of prosecuting the cases, although it's not clear by how much. A file listing each piece of evidence in the case -- such as video, audio, witness statements and fingerprints must now be kept, whereas before the district attorney's office would simply hand over material to defense attorneys without documenting it, Wilke said.
The act, which took effect
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