By comparison, the court-appointed private lawyers who still handle four out of every five murder cases in Philadelphia sometimes get as little as $2,000 to defray expenses, plus $400 in fees for each day of trial. All 61 people condemned to death in Philadelphia since the Defenders Association began handling capital cases in 1993 were represented by private attorneys.

Opponents of capital punishment have argued for years that defendants facing a potential death sentence often don't get the help they need from overworked, poorly equipped lawyers. A 2000 study by researchers at Columbia University found that 68 percent of all death sentences imposed between 1973 and 1995 were later overturned. Legal experts said a leading reason for reversals, then and now, are rulings that a defendant's lawyer was ineffective during some phase of the trial.

The Sixth Amendment guarantees effective assistance of counsel. This means providing training, resources and experts, which cost money. Nowhere is the need greater than in a death case.