Death on the line

Buhman said it's possible that when he files a charge of aggravated murder he could also immediately notify defense attorneys that the death penalty is off the table.

That one decision could save the county and taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, defense attorneys say.

"It achieves the same goals that they want, if punishment is the issue, of taking someone out of society," said Rich Mauro, a contracted death-penalty case attorney working on a capital case in Box Elder County. "Plus it saves millions and millions for the taxpayer."

However, prosecutors say the decision to seek death requires significant consideration beyond budgets.

"If we aren't going to seek the death penalty, would it maybe save some money by notifying the public defender's office earlier on? Possibly," Taylor said. "Are resources limited? Without a doubt. But I'm not quite sure our death penalty cases should always be dictated by the pocketbook."

Long-run capital costs

The defense tab doesn't end at pretrial mitigation.

The $75,000 Means was granted for each of his new capital cases is only enough to cover the mitigation investigation and initial investigation costs. If the case actually had to go to trial, Means said he would need even more money from the county and its taxpayers.

"Tom Means has done a wonderful job in keeping those costs down as much as he can," Commissioner Anderson said. "He gets the best people ... and he gets a deal on it... but even at a deal it's expensive."

2 phases

Capital cases are longer and more expensive because there are two trials — a guilt phase and a sentencing phase. Expert witnesses, death-certified juries and numerous pretrial hearings and motions also add to the costs.

Death-certified juries mean that each juror must be willing to impose the death penalty if required.

"Local governments often bear the brunt of capital punishment costs and are particularly burdened," writes Richard C. Dieter, in a report addressing the cost of the death penalty published in 1992.

Dieter is the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit organization that studies capital punishment.

"A single death penalty trial can exhaust a county's resources," Dieter writes. "Politicians singing the praises of the death penalty rarely address the question of whether a government's resources might be more effectively put to use in other methods of fighting crime."

Since 2001, the Utah County Commission has allocated an extra $455,000 for capital homicide cases, and that number doesn't include funding for the newest case, Gardea, or any additional funding for potential trials.