CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - New Hampshire lawmakers are deciding whether to suspend the state's death penalty rather than repeal it outright.
The Senate is expected to vote Thursday on a bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Kevin Avard of Nashua.
The measure would suspend use of the death penalty until "methods exist to ensure that the death penalty cannot be imposed on an innocent person."
New Hampshire is the only state in New England with the death penalty still on the books, and efforts to repeal it in 2014 deadlocked in the 24-member Senate.
Michael Addison, who was convicted of killing a Manchester police officer in 2006, is the state's only person on death row.
The bill would not affect anyone sentenced to death prior to the suspension.
New Hampshire's last execution was in 1939.
Source: The Associated Press, March 3, 2016