Maryland Citizens Against State Executions

Presented by: Vicki A. Schieber, New Market, Maryland

To: Maryland State Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee
March 2, 2010

In loving memory of Shannon J. Schieber, August 8, 1974 – May 7, 1998

I am the mother of a murder victim and I serve on the board of directors of Maryland Citizens Against State Executions, a non-profit organization of people who oppose the death penalty in all cases.

Thank you for this opportunity to testify in support of Senate Bill 820.

Losing a beloved family member to murder is a tragedy of unimaginable proportions.  My daughter Shannon was 23 when she was murdered in 1998 by a serial rapist in Philadelphia.  Shannon had grown up in Maryland, graduated from Duke University, and was finishing her first year of graduate school at the Wharton School of Business.  Shannon was home by herself, up late studying for her final exams, when the assailant pried open a balcony door on her second floor apartment and attacked her as she was preparing to take a bath.  We would ultimately learn that in the same neighborhood, this assailant had broken into at least four other apartments and sexually assaulted single white female residents in the 11 months prior to Shannon’s death.  My daughter’s murderer was ultimately arrested in April 2002, pled guilty to assaulting, raping, and killing Shannon, and was sentenced by summer to a sentence of life without parole.   

In 2008, I was appointed by Governor O’Malley to serve on the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment.  You know that this Commission recommended repeal of Maryland’s death penalty.   

Today, I come before you to discuss a lesser know recommendation of this same Commission.  That recommendation was to increase the services and resources already provided to families of murder victims.

I also served on the Commission’s Victim’s Subcommittee.  This Subcommittee was made up of three Commission members, including myself, who were survivors of homicide victims.  We were asked by the full Commission to study what information was available and to assess the needs of survivors of homicide in our state.  I have attached a copy of our report, which was part of the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment’s full report, released on December 12, 2008.   

While the three of us on this subcommittee were not unanimous on the ultimate recommendation for repeal of the death penalty, we were unanimous about the need for a more comprehensive, statewide approach to meeting the needs of survivors of homicide victims.  Indeed, one key area of need we identified speaks directly in support of SB 820:
“Training for law enforcement both at the entry-level and in-service training for experienced officers must explicitly include dealing with the survivors of homicide, and the rights of crime victims.  Under Public Safety Article, section 3-207(6), there are training provisions for rape and sexual offense, however it is important that these provision be expanded to include homicide offenses, and contract and treatment of homicide survivors.”

The reason we emphasized police training is that police not only make first contact with family members of homicide victims, they often make the only official contact.  This is particularly true in murders where no one is arrested, and thus the family never has contact with State’s Attorney’s offices, which have their own victims’ coordinators.

Further, based on the recommendations of the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment and the Victims’ Subcommittee, the 2009 legislation death penalty repeal bill included language urging expanded services to survivors of homicide victims.  This language remained in the amended death penalty repeal-to-reform bill that passed in 2009, and which also directed the Governor’s Office on Crime Control and Prevention (GOCCP) to deliver a report by November 1, 2009 to the House Judiciary and this Committees on “how victim services for the survivors of homicide victims should be expanded.”

In preparing it’s November 1, 2009 report (also attached), GOCCP conducted a pilot survey of homicide survivors and service providers to survivors.  Despite the small sample, it is noteworthy that 68% of survivors responding to this survey said that they did not receive any information from law enforcement officers regarding the availability of services in their respective communities.  Hence, one of GOCCP’s modest recommendations in this report was for Maryland to “expand and enhance training for law enforcement officials” working with homicide survivors.  

SB 820 implements what was urged by the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment  Victims’ Subcommittee and by GOCCP in it’s follow up report to this Committee.  It takes an important step by requiring uniform, routine training for police officers across our state so they are better equipped to inform all Maryland crime victims of their rights and available services.

I support SB 820 as a step on the path to justice and healing for victims.  I am honored to do so as I believe that Maryland can and should move beyond vague sentiments about being tough on crime and seeking justice for victims and look closely at what actions would prevent violence or help victims heal in the aftermath of violence.  In honor of our daughter, my husband and I are committed to spending the remainder of our lives trying to seek not just the elimination of the death penalty, but meaningful change, like SB 820, that truly serves the needs those of us who have survived the ultimate loss.