ATLANTA (AP) — The state Senate has approved legislation which would allow prosecutors to seek life without parole against convicted killers without first pursuing the death penalty.
The legislation from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Preston Smith passed unanimously Tuesday.
Under current law, prosecutors may not obtain a sentence of life without parole unless they first seek the death penalty. Smith, a Rome Republican, says such capital trials are time-consuming and costly.
Life without parole is already an option for prosecutors in rape cases.
Smith says the bill has the support of prosecutors but that lawyers in the defense community are split on the change.
The bill now moves to the state House.
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