Change in death penalty law unlikely to affect Pryor

April 29, 2009|By ERIN CUNNINGHAM

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Maryland's new death penalty statute likely will not apply to Douglas Wayne Pryor, who is accused of murdering two Washington County residents, based on an interpretation of the law by the Maryland Attorney General's Office.

State officials said earlier this month they were unsure whether the bill would be retroactive, making it unclear if Pryor would qualify for the death penalty under restrictions in the new law.

Pryor has been charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Alison Munson, and Smithsburg Police Officer Christopher Shane Nicholson in 2007.

The House of Delegates and the Senate recently passed legislation limiting the death penalty to first-degree murder cases with biological or DNA evidence, videotaped voluntary confessions or video linking defendants to a crime -- said to be one of the most restrictive death penalty laws in the country.

Gov. Martin O'Malley has said he will sign the bill.

Earlier this month, the Attorney General's Office said it was unclear whether the bill would apply to murders committed before the bill is signed for which the defendant has not been convicted.

However, Assistant Attorney General Kathy Rowe said Tuesday anyone sentenced after Oct. 1 would be eligible for death under the new guidelines. Sentencing before Oct. 1 would follow the current law.

Washington County State's Attorney Charles P. Strong Jr. said Wednesday he had not seen the opinion cited by Rowe.

However, he said the sentencing portion of Pryor's trial would happen no more than six weeks after the trial begins May 19. That would be just three months before the new death penalty law would go into effect.

Strong's office has filed its intent to seek the death penalty, but a judge or jury will determine whether the death penalty will be an option after the trial begins.

Del. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington, who has spoken out against the new death penalty law and its possible impact on Pryor's case, called the new law "outrageous if it does have this impact on a pending case."

"It's a flawed piece of legislation that has very real world implications for the law enforcement community, for Christopher Nicholson's family and for this community," Shank said. "We're literally going to be racing against the clock, which is certainly a poor way to dispense justice."

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