PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor

H.B. 403

This Administration bill makes procedural changes regarding imposition of the death
penalty by altering the procedures and times at which a stay of execution can be ordered.
The bill also allows a defendant to waive and revoke the waiver of the right to a petition
for review of sentence.

Senate Bill 340, which was passed by the General Assembly and signed by me on April 11,
1995, accomplishes the same purpose. Therefore, it is not necessary for me to sign House
Bill 403.

Sincerely,

Parris N. Glendening

Governor

House Bill No. 403

AN ACT concerning

Death Penalty Reform

FOR the purpose of establishing that a warrant of execution shall be stayed during the
direct review process and certain parts of the State postconviction review process;
establishing that a warrant of execution must designate a certain period within
which the sentence must be executed; requiring a certain judge to lift a stay of a
warrant of execution or issue a new warrant of execution at a certain time;
permitting a circuit court to stay a warrant of execution upon the filing of a certain
petition; requiring a circuit court to lift a certain stay or provide certain notice if the
court finds an inmate to be competent; requiring a circuit court to stay a warrant of
execution if the court finds an inmate to be incompetent; permitting the Court of
Appeals to stay a warrant of execution under certain circumstances; clarifying that
a certain requirement governing notice of intent to seek a sentence of death and
notice of intent to seek a sentence of life without the possibility of parole shall apply
to any trial date so as to permit the State to comply with the requirement by filing
notice at least a certain number of days before a trial date even if the State did not
file notice at least a certain number of days before a previously scheduled trial date;
requiring a State's Attorney to file a copy of a notice of intent to seek the death
penalty or a withdrawal of any such notice with the Clerk of the Court of Appeals;
providing that the validity of a notice of intent to seek a sentence of death that is
served on a defendant in a timely manner shall in no way be affected by the State's
Attorney's failure to file a copy of the death notice in a timely manner with the
Clerk of the Court of Appeals; requiring that a death penalty sentencing proceeding
be conducted before a judge rather than a jury if the defendant was convicted after
a trial before the judge sitting without a jury; providing that this requirement does
not apply if review of the original sentences of death has resulted in a remand for
resentencing; altering the number of petitions for postconviction relief, arising out
of each trial, that a person is permitted to file; permitting a circuit court to reopen
a postconviction proceeding under certain circumstances; providing that the
defendant may waive the statutory period provided for filing a postconviction
petition; altering the time line governing the filing of an initial postconviction
petition in a case in which a sentence of death has been imposed under certain

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