Death Sentence? That'll be $308 million, please

The state that gives a home to Hollywood has always done a great job generating jaw-dropping stories of celebrities spending more on a pair of shoes than most of us would spend on a house. Now a new report finds that California's death penalty costs are equally extreme. The state has spent over $4 billion on the death penalty since it was reinstated in 1978. That’s bought them a grand total of 13 executions - $308 million for each.

The report also forecasts that by 2030, the largest death row in the nation will have swollen to well over 1,000 inmates and the tab for maintaining California’s death penalty will climb to $9 billion.

Some of the other pricey items from the report include:

• A death penalty prosecution costs up to 20 times as much as a life-without-parole case.
• The least expensive death penalty trial costs more than the most expensive life-without-parole case – $1.1 million more to be exact.
• Jury selection in a capital case runs three to four weeks longer and costs $200,000 more than in life-without-parole cases.