4/27/17
by News Department on 04/27/17Death Penalty...
Pike County prosecutors got the death sentence they sought for convicted cop killer Eric Matthew Frein.
Now comes the challenge of enforcing the penalty. Under Pennsylvania law, the state Supreme Court automatically reviews all death sentences.
Should the high court uphold the sentence, Frein has multiple options available in state and federal court that likely will take a decade or longer to resolve before a death warrant can be signed.
Pennsylvania also has a moratorium on executions imposed by Gov. Tom Wolf in February 2015.
Wolf said he is awaiting a report from a state senate committee tasked with reviewing the state’s imposition of the death penalty before he will decide on whether to lift it.
Frein joins 171 defendants on Pennsylvania’s death row as of this month.
