Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Contents
Legal process
When the prosecution seeks the death penalty, the sentence is decided by the jury and must be unanimous.
In case of a hung jury during the penalty phase of the trial, the trial court judge decides the sentence.
The power of clemency belongs to the Governor of Indiana after receiving a non-binding advice from the Indiana Parole Board.
Capital crimes
The following constitutes first-degree murder with aggravating circumstances, which is the only capital crime in Indiana.
- The murder was especially heinous, atrocious, cruel or depraved (or involved torture)
- The capital offense was committed during the commission of, attempt of, or escape from a specified felony (kidnapping, rape, sodomy, arson, oral copulation, train wrecking, carjacking, criminal gang activity, drug dealing, or aircraft piracy)
- The murder was committed from a motor vehicle or near a motor vehicle that transported the defendant
- The murder was committed by intentionally discharging a firearm into an inhabited dwelling
- The defendant killed the victim while lying in wait
- The murder was committed by means of a bomb, destructive device, explosive, or similar device
- The defendant caused or directed another to commit murder, or the defendant procured the commission of the offense by payment, promise of payment, or anything of pecuniary value
- The victim of the murder was less than 12 years of age
- The victim was a pregnant woman, and the murder resulted in the intentional killing of a fetus that has attained viability
Federal executions
Terre Haute, Indiana is the site of the Federal Correctional Complex, where the death row of the Federal government is located. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty, three (3) people have had their sentences carried out at Terre Haute, including Timothy McVeigh, convicted of his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, in which 168 people were killed.