Jeremiah Bean was convicted of 12 counts, including five First Degree Murder Charges. The penalty phase begins next Tuesday. All it takes is one jury member to rule against the death penalty for Bean to receive life in prison without the possibility of parole. If the jury hands him a death sentence, it could get tied up in appeals for years and even decades. There are upwards of 10 different appeals at the state and federal level. Executions in the Silver State only happen when those appeals have been exhausted or when the inmate gives up the right to appeal. Nevada's last execution was carried out in 2006, when Daryl Mack died of lethal injection. Deciding to pursue the death penalty is something prosecutors say they take very seriously.
"When we make that decision in Washoe County, it is the very worst type of criminal, which can be shown by the last two we've done which is James Biela and Tamir Hamilton," Chris Hicks, Washoe County District Attorney said.
Since Nevada's executions were reinstated in 1977, 153 people have been sentenced to death but only 12 have been executed. Only one of those exhausted all of his appeals. Sixteen others have died in prison before their sentences were carried out. Forty-three have had their sentences reduced, leaving 82 on death row, today.
"There are so many different layers of appellate remedies for these convictions that it drags out and sometimes we end up having to try cases, decades after we already convicted the person," Hicks said.
A Nevada legislative audit shows that the average cost for the appeals process is $142,000 for death row inmates. That cost is $56,000 for convictions where the death penalty was not sought.
"We often hear these much higher costs that are thrown around for the death penalty," Hicks said. "That primarily involves trial costs and pretrial costs."
The audit shows the cost for a trial that ends in a death sentence is $566,352. A non-death penalty trial costs $177,256. The appeals may cost substantially less, but Hicks says the efficiency needs to be improved for more reasons than saving time and money.
"There are victims out there," Hicks said. "Victims who have lost loved ones. Victims whose lives have been completely shattered, completely changed forever because of the actions of that defendant. Those victims deserve justice and that justice is when those sentences are carried out."
Since the Nevada State Prison closed, the state does not have a death chamber. A new one is expected to be built, in Ely, within the next two years. Until that happens, nobody will be executed in the Silver State. Lethal injection is the only method used for executions, in Nevada.
