DOVER, Del. (AP) - Lawmakers are poised to introduce bipartisan legislation to reinstate Delaware's death penalty, which the state Supreme Court declared unconstitutional last year.
Under the bill, the death penalty could not be imposed unless jurors unanimously found the existence of one or more aggravating circumstances. Jurors also would have to unanimously find that aggravating factors alleged by prosecutors had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt and outweighed mitigating factors cited by the defense.
The judge also would have to agree with the jury that aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances.
In August, a majority of the justices said Delaware's death penalty law was unconstitutional because it allowed judges too much discretion in sentencing and did not require that a jury find unanimously and beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant deserves execution.
