Atlanta Journal-Constitution 

Georgia Judge Notes Expensive Bottom Line in Capital Cases

May 12, 2002

A recent death penalty case in Georgia has led Fulton County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Manis to question the value of expensive capital trials. "The death penalty has great popular appeal, but I don't think the taxpayers have looked at the bottom line," she said. "The death penalty is damn expensive." Expenses for the capital trial of Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, who received a sentence of life without the possibility of parole, included the following:

The District Attorney dedicated four prosecutors and a full-time investigator to the case during the trial and in the months leading up to it.  Independent of the time spent preparing for the case, the prosecutor's salaries exceeded $74,000 for the two months of trial and jury selection.

The District Attorney's Office spent approximately $34,000 for equipment, graphic design for court exhibits, and expert testimony. An additional $43,000 was spent on overtime for investigators.

$164,000 in fees and expenses were spent for one of the defense attorneys in the Al-Amin case. Two additional lawyers have yet to submit bills and these additional charges are expected to put total legal fees well above $200,000.

It cost more than $87,000 to select and sequester the jury for this case. This amount included $63,600 for hotel rooms, dinners and drinks for jurors, $6,000 for juror lunches and beverages, $2,500 for juror transportation, $765 for entertainment expenses, and $14,300 to copy the questionnaires used to pick the jury.  This amount does not include the overtime paid to sheriff's deputies who guarded the jury and the court.