Capital punishment in Delaware
Capital punishment is legal in the U.S. state of Delaware. It has the third highest number of executions per capita behind Oklahoma and Texas.[1]
Capital crimes
First-degree murder with at least 1 statutory aggravating circumstance is the only capital crime in Delaware.[2]
As in any other state, people who are under 18 at the time of commission of the capital crime [3] or mentally retarded[4] are constitutionally precluded from being executed.
Sentencing and clemency
Delaware is one of the three states, along with Alabama and Florida, where the judge may override a jury decision. A person convicted of first-degree murder may be sentenced instead to life in prison without parole.[2] The Governor may grant a commutation of the death sentence, but must have the Recommendation of Clemency From a Board or Advisory Group. The only post-Furman pardon was granted by Gov. Jack Markell on January 17, 2012 to Robert Gattis.[5]
Method
Lethal injection has been the sole method for execution since June 13, 1986. Hanging was an alternative for those whose offense occurred prior to that date, but in July 2003 no inmates on death row were eligible to choose this alternative and Delaware dismantled its gallows.[6]
Death row
Delaware's death row for males is located at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna. Female death row prisoners are housed at the Delores J. Baylor Women's Correctional Institution in New Castle.
See also
- Crime in Delaware
- List of people executed in Delaware
- List of wrongful convictions in the United States
- List of exonerated death row inmates
- List of death row inmates in the United States