Audit would compare costs of death penalty cases

SALT LAKE CITY — How much do death penalty cases cost Utah taxpayers compared with cases where the death penalty isn't used? A House committee approved a bill Tuesday that will create an audit that will find out just that.Rep. Steve Handy, R-Layton, presented HB70 to the House Law enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee.Handy said there was a study conducted in summer 2012 that found that it costs $1.6 million more to pursue the death penalty than to pursue life without parole.But there