Tye Hunter, head of the state's Indigent Defense Services, had an attention-getting message for lawmakers Monday: He wants his agency to spend less money defending accused killers.

Hunter, whose agency appoints lawyers to represent poor defendants, thinks the state would save money if it defined more narrowly who deserves the death penalty.

The most costly cases for Hunter's agency, which has a $92 million annual budget, are capital murders because they require two defense lawyers. Because the state's law is so broad, Hunter says, hundreds of defendants start out facing a potential death sentence, but only a few actually go to trial, and fewer still get sent to death row.

During fiscal year 1995, Hunter says, there were 60 capital trials that resulted in 25 death sentences. In comparison, since Hunter's agency was created in 2001, there have been 125 capital trials but the same number of death verdicts: 25.

"We're spending millions of dollars on these cases for trials for a couple dozen and death verdicts for a few," Hunter told the legislative committee studying how the death penalty is applied in North Carolina.

Hunter was among several speakers at the first meeting of the study committee, which was created after death penalty foes failed to secure a two-year moratorium on executions.

One recommendation that both Hunter and UNC law professor Jack Boger made to the committee was to look at how Virginia defines which first-degree murder cases qualify for death. In North Carolina, a defendant who commits another felony in the course of a murder can face the death penalty. In Virginia, a defendant who commits only certain felonies -- such as rape, robbery and abduction -- during a murder faces death.

The committee may propose changes to the state's death penalty laws when the legislature reconvenes in May.

Rep. Ronnie Sutton, a Robeson County Democrat, expressed concern Monday that the committee's work might not be taken seriously because critics think it is aimed at getting rid of the death penalty. The committee is less able to deflect such criticism because the co-leaders -- Rep. Joe Hackney, D-Orange County, and Rep. Beverly Earle, D-Mecklenburg County -- both support a moratorium. "We start in a biased manner," Sutton said.

One death penalty supporter who has voiced such concerns also spoke to the committee. Branny Vickory, president of the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys, told the committee that the state's prosecutors think recent reforms ensure that the death penalty is administered fairly.

Vickory said more funding is needed so prosecutors and investigators can comply with the new laws. He said prosecutors need $3.5 million for equipment to help them provide all the evidence to the defense before trial, and more SBI agents are needed to help small police agencies investigate murders.

Vickory also confronted assumptions that the race of victims or defendants helps determine prosecutors' decisions to seek the death penalty. Vickory said prosecutors consider each case individually and decide based on the strength of the evidence whether to seek the death penalty.

"This is absolutely the most serious thing district attorneys ever do," Vickory said.