Harward said: "If we are losing the war, let's end the war" by placing a constitutional time limit on death penalty appeals for any reasons, except pure innocence of the accused.

A constitutional time limit for appeals "could let the Supreme Court do whatever it wants" in deciding which appeals it takes or not, said Harward, who served in the House from Utah County during the 1980s and 1990s.

That way when the appeals time ran out, no matter what argument was made to the high court, it couldn't hear that appeal — just as there are statutes of limitation now in bringing a case to trial in the first place.

But giving the Legislature the power, through SJR14, to control specific appeals before the high court is "subject to the whims of the Legislature. I know. I was one. The Legislature changes (its opinions) over time," Harward said.

Instead, "time limit the appeals and there is no shift in power" from the judicial branch to the legislative branch of government, Harward added.

It is that power struggle — which has been ongoing for years in Utah — that is one part of the argument.

Even though the Utah Senate confirms judicial appointments (made by the governor), some conservative legislators believe judges go too far in applying the law. While the idea failed in the Legislature, one senator recently suggested that sitting judges should be re-confirmed by the Senate at the end of their terms, so lawmakers could remove a judge if they didn't like his rulings. Judges now face voter retention elections, where they win another term with a majority vote of citizens in their judicial district.

Voros said that while the attorney general's real concern is delays in death penalty cases, under equal protection law Shurtleff had to give, in his amendment, the Legislature final post-conviction authority over all criminal convictions, not just for murderers.

Such a broad sweep bothers several CRC members, who let it be known Thursday that a compromise should be worked out without taking the long-held power over post-conventions away from the Supreme Court.

Further, there is evidence, it was suggested Thursday, that some death sentences are lingering because defense attorneys, having run out of their $60,000 appeal's pay from the state, are suing for more money. And so justice is delayed for murder victim families for no other reason than attorneys seeking more fees.

Durham said public defenders operations are severely underfunded and that the constitutional right to adequate counsel, especially in death penalty cases, is a concern to the high court.

The criminal defense bar will give its side of the story in an August CRC hearing.

E-MAIL: bbjr@desnews.com