Capital punishment is a legal punishment in American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States. The only crime punishable by death is first degree murder. American Samoa last executed a prisoner by hanging on 24 November 1939. The territory is de facto abolitionist.[1]
Territorial statutes require the jury to be unanimous to impose a death sentence. The court cannot impose sentence of death if the jury fails to agree on the punishment. The only other sentence allowed for first-degree murder is life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 40 years. Statutes also do not provide for a method of execution.[2]
- ^ "Witnesses all agree repealing death penalty is a must". Samoa News. 27 September 2012. Archived from the original on 2016-08-09. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ^ "Code Annotated". www.asbar.org.
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