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Utah House approves amendments to capital sentencing statute and adopts intent language on life‑without‑parole
Summary
Lawmakers removed certain modifiers from mitigating‑circumstance language in capital sentencing to address appellate concerns and adopted intent language clarifying that an evidentiary standard beyond reasonable doubt is not intended for life‑without‑parole determinations; HB48 passed unanimously in the recorded tally provided.
Floor debate on House Bill 48 focused on removing modifiers that had created appellate issues in capital sentencing and on clarifying how juries should be instructed regarding life without parole. The sponsor said deleting modifiers such as "extreme" or "substantial" would avoid constitutional challenges and align jury instructions…
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