Sen. Brian E. Frosh, a Montgomery County Democrat and death penalty opponent, said he would have preferred to repeal the death penalty.
"It was one of those compromises where it left no one completely happy. But perhaps it leaves us better than where we were," he said.
"The new law in many ways hinders the prosecution's ability to seek the death penalty in the most heinous of cases," said Kristin Fleckenstein, spokeswoman for the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney's Office.
Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger said the law has affected his decision-making process, but so far, no actual decisions. Most Maryland death penalty trials come from Baltimore County.
Prosecutors are fighting the subpoenas.
Assistant State's Attorney Sandra F. Howell is expected to argue today before Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Paul A. Hackner that what each prosecutor does on his or her home turf is irrelevant.
"It really shouldn't matter in Anne Arundel County what we do in Baltimore County," Shellenberger said.
"What I said in the minority report and I say now is if you are going to have a system of independent county prosecutors, then the people can elect a state's attorney who's a strong supporter of the death penalty," he said, referring to his role on the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment.
The group voted in 2008 to recommend abolishing the death penalty.
Earlier, Lawlor and Proctor claimed that their poor pay should be reason enough for Hackner to throw out the death penalty. As private lawyers hired by the Office of the Public Defender, their pay rate is the nation's second-lowest for a capital case.
The $20,000 maximum leaves them to decide between defending Stephens to the best of their ability and facing financial ruin, and neglecting him so they can stay in the black while booking Stephens "a bunk in death row."
Hackner denied the motion. They have asked the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, to hear their argument.
Baltimore Sun reporter Julie Bykowicz contributed to this article.
