This Chart Shows How Insanely Expensive Death Penalty Cases Are

When the American legal system decides to pursue a capital offense, tax payers can suffer - to the tune of about $1 million. 

A new study from Seattle University analyzed 147 aggravated first-degree murder cases since 1997 in Washington State, separating the data into two categories: when prosecutors file a death notice and when they don't.

On average, a single death penalty case cost $3.07 million while a non-capital case cost an average of $2.01 million, leaving a difference of about $1.06 million. Adjusted for inflation in 2015, that means prosecutors seeking the death penalty cost Americans another $1.15 million, making these cases 1.4 to 1.5 times more expensive. 

The chart below, from the study, breaks down the money spent: 

The most notable increases occur in defense fees and court costs. While the post-conviction incarceration costs are higher for non-death penalty cases, they don't differ that greatly. The punishment for first-degree murder can be any number of years, including life in prison.

We first saw this story in the Seattle Times.