The cost of a capital trial when the death sentence is sought is more expensive, because of certain states having a sentencing trial after guilt is established, but the overall trial before the sentencing stage is no different. The appeals do not cost more in either case, they cost the same amount, only with the fact that a person sentenced to a very long term has all that time to appeal, so there are more appeals in a time sentence.

ALSO, what should be considered, is the fact that plea bargaining to avoid the death sentence should be credited to the death penalty. This requires no real trial, and has no appeals, and the costs are very small. A person NOT facing a possible death sentence has nothing to lose, and will go through the expensive capital trial.

The OJ Simpson trial cost about $8 MILLION dollars, and no one ever mentioned anything about seeking a death sentence.

When it comes to the cost of the trial, MOST murderers are represented by the legal counsel called "The Public Defender" who is an employee of the state, working for wages, just as the prosecution is run by the District Attorney, and the prosecutor's office, consisting of either State or County employees, who also work for wages. Of course, they are attorneys, and their wages are not cheap, but their wages are NOT the high costs of a trial. The higher costs come from "professional witnesses" who give testimony backed by expert or credited expertice.

The Duke University in North Carolina claimed that the death penalty costs $2.2 MILLION more per execution than a non-death penalty case. I challenge ANYONE to come up with a single case, where the Public Defender is used, that cost $1.5 MILLION going from arrest, to trial, through appeals, to execution.

Does capital punishment cost more? The trial does, but overall, it is cheaper to kill than to incarcerate.