New state death penalty restrictions take effect

Getting a death sentence in Maryland becomes even more difficult today as tough evidentiary standards passed by the General Assembly last session take effect.

Under the new law, capital punishment can be imposed only in cases with a videotaped confession, or in which biological, DNA or videotaped evidence conclusively links a defendant to a murder.

Cases relying solely on eyewitness testimony would be ineligible.

The new standards are the result of a three-year effort by Gov. Martin O'Malley to get a divided legislature to repeal capital punishment. The governor labeled this outcome a start in changing a flawed...