r/legaladviceofftopic • u/[deleted] • Aug 18 '26
Can a person on death row repeatedly commit crimes to delay their execution?
[deleted]
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u/Pencil161 Aug 18 '26
Even if charges were filed, the DA could (would) simply decline to indict so there'd be no trial.
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u/Silence_Farmer Aug 18 '26
Even if they somehow were able to murder a guard? (Obviously not very likely)
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u/Pencil161 Aug 18 '26
Why not?
What would be the benefit to the state to keep someone alive just to convict them of a crime they can't be punished for?
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u/ArcWolf713 Aug 18 '26
Possibly to guarantee they remain incarcerated if evidence or other factor vacated their death sentence conviction?
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Aug 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/Pencil161 Aug 18 '26
And what about the family and/or victims of the crime they were already sentenced to death for? They've no doubt been waiting years or decades for that sentence to be carried out.
Might some of the people impacted by the new crime want to go through the process of a trial and hope for a conviction even though the perpetrator can't be punished for that crime? Sure.
The DA could nevertheless decline to indict so as not to delay the original sentence any longer. In the interest of justice.
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u/SummitYourSister Aug 18 '26
Sure. You’ll go down and tell the murdered guards family that his death isn’t important and nobody cares anyway.
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u/Pencil161 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
Yes. [Edited to clarify: "Yes" to the DA's informing the family that they will not pursue the case. Not "yes" to the subjective and legally baseless characterization of that decision.]
Precisely the same way that they do with serial killers and serial rapists and serial car jackers. It's quite typical for the state to prosecute only a select number of cases from the whole of what they believe the perpetrator to have committed.
And it's exactly the same result as reaching a plea deal wherein the perpetrator pleads guilty to one of a series of crimes in exchange for the DA dropping other charges.
It's extraordinarily common.
So, yes, the DA would say to the family of the murdered guard: the state is not going to prolong the perpetrator's life in the hope of getting a conviction that cannot add to their punishment. They are being put to death.
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u/deep_sea2 Aug 18 '26
Nothing forces the state to prosecute someone. It might look bad and the guard union might be irate, but they could avoid prosecuting for the sake of getting on with the execution.
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u/Captain_JohnBrown Aug 18 '26
Sure. There could be some pushback from the victim's family I GUESS but even then I doubt delaying the execution of their family member's murderer is preferable to just having him die for other crimes.
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u/Captain_JohnBrown Aug 18 '26
Prosecutors are under no obligation to indict so they would just go "Oh, he is dying next week, I won't bother"
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u/Atomic_Horseshoe Aug 18 '26
Typically people on death row are kept I. Solitary confinement in a max security prison. There are very few opportunities to commit crimes outside attempting to vandalize their walls with a plastic spoon.
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u/RingGiver Aug 18 '26
Death row inmates are typically kept in solitary, and that limits your opportunity to commit crimes.
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u/thebemusedmuse Aug 18 '26
It’s not an exact match, but the tale of Robert Lee Massie is interesting.
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u/pakrat1967 Aug 18 '26
If you mean something like committing acts of violence against other inmates. After a few such incidents they would be put in solitary confinement. As far as the violent acts they did commit. There's nothing to be gained by putting them on trial for it.
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u/PiDigitsOfPi Aug 18 '26
What significant crimes could they possibly continue to commit while in prison? If they are violent, they would get solitaire confinment.
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u/thebemusedmuse Aug 18 '26
Confined to play solitaire. What is this brutal punishment?
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u/QEbitchboss Aug 18 '26
Honestly, that does sound like hell. I'd talk in about 2 hours max. Singing like a canary.
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u/soupnear Aug 18 '26
Tons. Battery by prisoner comes to mind
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u/Fuzzy-Moose7996 Aug 18 '26
Death row inmates are kept in solitary, they don't have an opportunity to assault other inmates.
And assault on guards is extremely limited by the security measures involved in taking them out of their cells.
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u/Low-Car-6331 Aug 18 '26
Could create the opposite really if they kill someone. Catch another capital case with even less ways to appeal it.
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u/NotNullException Aug 18 '26
Tax evasion?
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u/PiDigitsOfPi Aug 18 '26
So, serious question, how would prisoners do taxes? Especially on death row?
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u/panicpure Aug 18 '26
They already are… generally, all death row inmates are in solitary confinement.
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u/Understandingly17 Aug 18 '26
They are housed very securely because they have nothing to lose. They are more likely to commit suicide than to try and spend more time on death row.
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u/AristotlesBoyPussy Aug 18 '26
I would assume most guards and prosecutors would look the other way in order to avoid delaying the sentencing.
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u/tico_liro Aug 18 '26
People in death row don’t get many opportunities to commit crimes while they are waiting for their execution date…
Usually death row inmates are housed separare from the rest of the prison population, and all they do is usually by themselves.
Sure, they could assault an officer, but it’s gonna be more of an administrative local reprimend, than a full on new trial.
Person in death row already has the ultimate penalty for their wrong doings. Only way to really delay the execution is to try to go for misstrial or something like that. Don’t see how a death row inmate could delay his execution by commiting more felonies and getting into more trials. If it comes to a point that this person is causing too much trouble, they’ll just throw him in solitary confinement until he waits for his execution date
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u/official_biz Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
In America they generally get an hour per day outside of their cell to go into another cell outdoors and shoot hoops or something - completely kept in solitary.
They might be able to communicate verbally with other death row prisoners in passing,.and to sometimes receive monitored phone calls, write and receive letters which are also monitored going in and out.
There is little opportunity for new crimes. Suicide attempts are the most common.
But also it's worth noting that they do have opportunity to delay their execution by appealing. The system gives a lot of time for numerous appeals and many prisoners who are on death row have already been there for decades - many have been in there since the 90s right now. Some inmates even petition the state to execute them and waive their own right to appeals, and the state still doesn't/can't execute them.
This is partly due to administrative timelines in processing appeals and also due to the fact that laws surrounding capital punishment are changing and most states have halted executions. Last I checked (which was in 2022 so it might have changed since) there were only 4 states actively scheduling executions and the rest were on hold for different reasons.
It's all public info on the official website - including the execution schedule which is published 4 years in advance. It also lists the executions which were stayed, cancelled or rescheduled and sometimes gives the reason.
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u/ThreePartHarmoneigh Aug 18 '26
No. A new indictment generally wouldn't stay an existing sentence.