Does that mean if somebody in 1978 commits a capital crime, but is caught in 2005 in a place where capital punishment is suspended, they can still be punished by the 1978 guidelines?I'm not sure about that one. But if you are convicted of a murder committed before a state imposed capital punishment, you can't be executed for it.
It seemed to me that there was a major gap in the plot of John Grisham's The Chamber, an otherwise excellent book. The protagonist's grandfather was convicted of a murder committed during the 1960s and sentenced to death. But all state death penalty laws were overturned by the USSC in 1972. It would appear that he couldn't have been sentenced to death, since the state law at the time was ruled unconstitutional.
-Eric
Another good example would be Charles Manson and "family". They were all sentenced to death (I think all of them were, anyways). Then the death penalty was ruled unconstitutional, and their sentences were commuted to life sentences. The death penalty was then found to be constitutional after all, but their death sentences were not reinstated. Manson could conceivably get out on parole. (NEVER happen, but it is theoretically possible).