Victims' families to call for death penalty repeal

Panel to hear about cost and effect of death sentences

Family members will release the letter in Annapolis after the third public hearing of the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment.

Dozens of people signed the letter, said Jane Henderson, executive director of Maryland Citizens Against State Executions. Henderson said she expects about 20 victims' family members at the hearing, including some who will testify.

The panel will hear testimony from experts on the effects of prolonged capital cases and on the costs of the death penalty versus less-than-death alternative sentences.

Kathy Garcia, a crime victims' advocate who founded the Center for Traumatic Grief in Moorestown, N.J., is among those expected to testify.

Others witnesses scheduled to testify are:

ï John Roman, a senior research associate in the Justice Policy Center at the nonpartisan Urban Institute in Washington.

ï Harford County State's Attorney Joseph I. Cassilly, president of the National District Attorneys Association.

ï Judith R. Catterton, an attorney with Rockville law firm Ethridge, Quinn, McAuliffe, Rowan & Hartinger and past president, of the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorney's Association.

ï Retired Maryland Court of Special Appeals Judge Andrew L. Sonner, who has continued to work as an associate judge.

ï Archbishop of Baltimore Edwin F. O'Brien.

ï David J. Harris, managing director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice in Cambridge, Mass.

ï Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project in Washington.

The 23-member panel, created by legislation passed earlier this year and convened by O'Malley in June, is headed by Benjamin R. Civiletti, who served as President Jimmy Carter's attorney general.

The panel is scheduled to hold hearings on Sept. 5, and on Sept. 22, if necessary. It will meet on Oct. 7, Oct. 24 and Nov. 20 before releasing its recommendations on Dec. 15.