Ga. House votes to allow death penalty over a juror's 'no' vote

ATLANTA - In a move that sharply divided Georgia's Republican leaders, the state House has revived a stalled plan allowing judges to consider capital punishment even if one or two jurors vote against it.

The House's 112-55 vote was the chamber's second attempt in as many years to alter Georgia's death penalty law, which now requires the unanimous approval of a 12-person jury before recommending a death sentence to a judge.

The plan's GOP sponsors said it was a way to prevent ``rogue'' death penalty opponents from sabotaging capital punishments with one or two ``no'' votes, and cited cases where convicted murderers were let off the hook because of a sole dissenter.

It faced fierce opposition from GOP attorneys who warned it would put sacred life-or-death decisions in the hands of a judge instead of a jury. And the measure's low-profile path through the House upset a top Senate Republican leader, an ill omen for the bill's chances in the other chamber.

House leaders last year proposed the changes as a standalone measure. But this time they hitched it to a popular Senate proposal that would give prosecutors more leeway to seek stiffer penalties in aggravated murder cases.