PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A South Dakota House committee has endorsed a plan to prevent death-row inmates from using repeated appeals to delay their executions.
The bill would apply to all people convicted of serious crimes, but South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley says the limits are particularly needed in cases where murderers have been sentenced to death. He says two men sentenced to death nearly two decades ago have avoided execution because they have appeals that are still proceeding through the courts.
South Dakotans convicted of crimes can file a direct appeal to the Supreme Court. They then can file secondary appeals called habeus corpus petitions that argue their rights were violated. The bill would allow convicts to file only one habeus corpus petition, unless new evidence is discovered.
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