Massachusetts House Defeats Death Penalty Bill

House lawmakers on Tuesday soundly rejected a bill put forward by Gov. Mitt Romney to restore capital punishment in Massachusetts.

Romney had said the bill had strict safeguards and would seek the death penalty only in "very, very rare circumstances," such as terrorism, serial killing or murdering police officers or other public servants.

But critics said innocent people could still have been put to death.

The House defeated the bill on a 99-to-53 vote. The Senate has not debated the bill. Romney, who is weighing a Republican presidential run in 2008, said his plan would have set the nation's highest standard of proof for ensuring that only the guilty were executed, using scientific evidence such as DNA and multiple checks and balances, including review by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

But Rep. Eugene O'Flaherty, a Democrat, said scientific evidence presented at trial can sometimes be flawed or misinterpreted.

Some death penalty supporters who voted for the bill said Romney's legislation was too cautious and should also have included those found guilty of first-degree murder or the killing of children.

Supporters said the death penalty would not only deter people from committing murders, but is also fair justice. Without the death penalty, the life of the murderer is given greater value than the life of their victim, supporters said