Posted on 04/02/2008 6:10:52 AM PDT by Corin Stormhands
“Further, I respectfully disagree with the Governor’s decision to impose a blanket moratorium on all executions in Virginia. This moratorium will pre-empt the United States Supreme Court’s ability to decide whether other Virginia capital murderers present sufficient legal grounds to stay an execution. Additionally, other death-row inmates affected by the Governor’s actions have yet to select a method of execution as Virginia law provides, and only lethal injection cases are at issue in the Baze case. Finally, without knowing the date on which the United States Supreme Court will rule in Baze, a moratorium may unnecessarily delay justice in other Virginia cases.”
That just irritates me. The Constitution clearly disallows cruel and unusual punishment. So many people think it disallows one or the other, not both. Punishment by its very nature is supposed to be cruel. The Constitution also makes it very clear that the death penalty is legal provided there is due process. It just disgusts me to no end that these constitutional arguments won't stand in most courts.
71% opposed..........
LOL!!!
If I was that kind of guy, I’d dig up my post from 2005, ping a few selected FReepers, and scream “I told you so...”
He has not commuted any death sentences.
I’ll do it for you....
“We told you so!!!” ;)
Please dear Lord, let us have Bob McDonnell as governor.
We’ve paid enough with Warner and now Kaine.
I understand and agree with your point, however that was not what I was referring to.
You commented about using a different form of execution other than lethal injection and while I agree in principle it is not always an alternate.
I remember when Delaware was debating changing the means of execution from hanging to lethal injection. The new statute had to be worded in such a way as to give those on death row sentenced to hanging a choice. Had they written it to just blanket change the means those sentenced to hang would have gotten a defacto commutation to life in prison.
On the day of execution, wire the guy up for those EKG’s (or whatever they’re called), wait for deep sleep to occur, put a bullet through the head.
I'm with Iceskater:
I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!!!!!
as always stuart, that’s not the issue
The Pilot’s poll is running the same way as the Times-Dispatch.
It certainly looks like it to me. What then, is the issue?
Yes
27% (142 votes)
No
71% (365 votes)
Undecided
2% (10 votes)
Total votes: 517
I’m writing the son of a bitch today about this matter. He promised to uphold Va. law, especially when it came to cases where there was absolutely iron-clad evidence of captial murder involving the death of a law enforcement officer.
Edward Nathaniel Bell
Date of Birth: September 12, 1964
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Entered the Row: May 30, 2001
District: Winchester
Conviction: Capital Murder
Virginia DOC Inmate Number: 294604
Edward Nathaniel Bell was charged in the shooting death of Sgt. Ricky L. Timbrook, 32, from the Winchester police Department during a late evening police chase on Oct. 29, 1999. Police found Bell in the basement of a house near the shooting and was initially charged with burglary.[i] Evidence against Bell included the tight police perimeter around the crime scene on the night of the shooting.
Extensive media coverage, including flyers with pictures of the victim’s family outside the courthouse during trial did not restrain Judge Dennis L. Hupp from holding the criminal proceedings in Winchester Circuit Court in January 2001. During trial, prosecutors testified that Bell shot Timbrook because he had arrested him in 1997 for carrying a concealed weapon and Bell has feared that Timbrook would find a gun or drugs. Bell is a Jamaican national.
The prosecution introduced a witness who testified that Bell told him if he ever encountered Timbrook again, he would shoot him in the head since he knew police wore bullet-proof vests. A single shot to the head killed Timbrook.
Defense introduced evidence that showed a second individual was in the vicinity of the shooting at the same time and could have easily been the actual shooter. DNA from the gun came from at least three individuals and could not conclusively link Bell to the gun. Nonetheless, after deliberating for only three hours, an all-white jury of nine women and three men convicted Bell of capital murder and recommended that Bell be sentenced to death. At the formal sentencing hearing on May 30, 2001, Circuit Judge Dennis L. Hupp confirmed the jury’s sentence.[ii] On June 7, 2002, the Virginia Supreme Court upheld Bell’s conviction.[iii]
Bell was to be executed on Jan. 7, 2005, but U.S. District Judge James Jones of Abingdon issued a stay of execution—pending Bell’s full appeals process in federal court.[iv] Since then, Winchester Commonwealth Attorney Alexander R. Iden sent a letter to trial court jurors informing them that they did not have to cooperate with investigators for the defense.[v]
Why can’t they use some other method to execute these felons?
Lethal injection may not be ‘approved’ - so why not fire up ‘ol Sparky???
I responded to this issue in an earlier post, although totally based upon my experience in Delaware........I have no clue if it applies in VA.
When they were changing the method of execution from hanging to lethal injection they had to carefully word it to include those who had already been sentenced to hanging, lest they wind up having a defacto commutation to life in prison.
My understanding was that the wording of the sentence came into play, "hanging from the neck until dead," would have become void if the new law eliminated hanging and replaced it with lethal injection. So the new law was worded in such a way that those on death row sentenced to hang were given a choice but all new sentences were by lethal injection.
If Kaine has violated a law, then McDonnell should bring charges. Empty campaign rhetoric accomplishes nothing.
Are you listening to yourself? The “empty campaign rhetoric” of which you speak is how Governor Hinky Eyebrow got elected.
He lied on this. He lied on the 2nd Amendment. He lied on taxes.
And some people are foolish enough to give him the benefit of the doubt.
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