Many in the community were rightly upset after the recent homicide in Newark that ended with two adults and two juveniles being charged.

Killing a man in his bed with the intent to rob him is a horrible act, and we are thankful for police in their quick action in catching the suspects. But despite the initial desire for swift vengeance, we believe Licking County Prosecutor Bill Hayes made the correct decision in not seeking the death penalty in this case.

First and foremost, the financial investment in prosecuting, and defending, a capital punishment case is extreme. The fees for experts, special prosecutors and additional defense attorneys can easily top six figures and that is before a person is convicted. Even after convictions, mandatory appeals ensure that people spend years on death row. It is not uncommon for someone to spend 20-plus years awaiting execution.

Hayes acknowledged these costs in discussing his reasons for not pursuing the death penalty.

"If I think we possibly wouldn't be successful, I have to be prudent with the people's money," he said.

This unfortunately, but not surprisingly, brought some to note that “bullets are cheap.” Yes, such a response makes for a nice quip, but we certainly hope most people don’t think it makes for a good policy.

Mandatory appeals and an appropriate defense are critical when a civilized society makes a decision to kill someone.  It’s imperative any execution be accurately sentenced, and unfortunately that certainty cannot always be determined. Put simply, the lack of infallibility in humans always makes executions a dicey proposition.

That brings the question of whether trying to execute someone is ever worth the cost. We understand some victims may feel a need for vengeance or retribution, but fortunately we live in a society where victims of crimes don’t get to determine the punishment for that crime. Is it really worth spending millions of taxpayer dollars to kill a few people after they spend decades in prison?

In addition, convicts facing execution can engender sympathy from state, national and international organizations who oppose the death penalty. We think it would be better for victims’ families to simply have the killers locked up and essentially forgotten.

This case in particular raised concerns about the appropriateness of seeking an execution. The adult suspects are very young and Hayes rightly points out that to secure a capital sentence he would have to prove to a jury that there is no hope for rehabilitating them. He admits this would be a difficult argument to make.

Of course, some readers believed all four suspects should be executed, even the minors. We certainly hope this was simply a heated reaction and not a true belief that we should be killing children. It should be noted that such executions have been determined to be unconstitutional.

While the death penalty has not proven to deter criminals, it is possible that the threat of the death penalty after the arrests could convince suspects to be more forthcoming in their interrogations. But in the end, we believe Prosecutor Hayes made the correct decision in not pursing a capital indictment in this case.

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