Last 4 on Md. death row to have sentences commuted.
Outgoing Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley said Wednesday that he will commute the capital sentences of the state's last four inmates on death row to life in prison, saying executing them "does not serve the public good of the people of Maryland."
Two years ago, the General Assembly abolished the death penalty in the state, making the ultimate sentence in new cases life in prison without the possibility of parole.
That left four previously sentenced inmates on death row.
The governor noted in a statement that outgoing Democratic Attorney General Doug Gansler recently asserted that carrying out prior sentences would be illegal in the absence of an existing statute.
"The question at hand is whether any public good is served by allowing these essentially un-executable sentences to stand," O'Malley said in his statement. "In my judgment, leaving these death sentences in place does not serve the public good of the people of Maryland — present or future."
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3faab22ea71f4348955f82735f7f4a55/last-4-md-death-row-have-sentences-commuted