COURT COSTS: DEATH PENALTY TRIALS CAN BE EXPENSIVE

JACKSON, Mo. -- Trying to avoid a death penalty conviction doesn't come cheap.

Although the state Public Defender's office would not say how much was spent to defend a Poplar Bluff, Mo., man who was tried, convicted and sentenced in Cape Girardeau County last week, Dan Gralike said it's not unusual for their costs to eclipse $100,000.

"The death penalty is definitely the most expensive trial to defend," said Gralike, deputy director of Missouri's Public Defender's office.

For prosecutors, the price isn't quite so high. The last time Cape Girardeau County prosecutor Morley Swingle sought the death penalty was in 1996 against Gary Roll, who was executed last August for a triple murder. Out of a $20,000 budget for criminal trial expenses that year, Swingle only spent $15,019 for Roll's and other trials.

Kenneth McManaman, Roll's defense attorney, estimates he spent about $40,000, which he said is about the average for defending against the death penalty.

"He sold his house and I got some equity there," McManaman said. "Frankly, I probably came out on the short end with him."

Expenses entailed by defense attorneys are generally greater than for prosecutors because of access to state-funded resources, Gralike said. Prosecutors can order mental examinations of defendants at the Fulton State Hospital or receive DNA lab work from the Missouri State Highway Patrol crime lab at no charge. The Public Defender's office pays for the same services at private firms, just like any defense attorney, Gralike said.

Butler County prosecutor Kevin Barbour recalled a report more than an inch thick that was prepared for him by the highway patrol's accident reconstructionists. He used it for a manslaughter case. If a private firm had done the same work, Barbour said he would have paid more than $5,000.

Costs for both sides increase when a trial's venue is changed and jurors are sequestered, Swingle said.

When the 16 people who served as jurors and alternates went out to eat during Anderson's trial last week, the bill they came back with averaged $150, said Charles Hutson, circuit clerk for Cape Girardeau County. Room and board for the group during the four-day trial was about $1,000 a day, he said.

Altogether, payments for court officials, jurors and general operations were approximately $11,000, which Hutson said will be billed to Butler County.

If a conviction is received, the county can ask the state to reimburse some expenses, but Butler County circuit clerk Wanda Ellsworth said the money doesn't make much difference.

The state's office of administration grants a daily $3.50 reimbursement for juror's room and board, said Jerry Robinett, who audits criminal trial bills.

Circuit clerks may complain, but reimbursement rates have been the same for over 20 years, Robinett said.