Brandon Wayne Hedrick was convicted of capital murder in Appomattox County for the death of Lisa Yvonne Alexander Crider. Trevor Jones, who suggested the robbery and murder of Crider, is serving a life sentence. The trial court judge who sentenced both defendants stated, “Make no mistake about it, without (Jones’) action, Lisa Crider would still be alive today.” The two had solicited sex from her earlier in the evening in Lynchburg, and then robbed her, thinking she had crack in her possession. Following their apprehension in Nebraska at the home of Jones’ sister, Hedrick cooperated and confessed to the police. Jones refused cooperation until confronted with Hedrick’s confession at which time he vowed that “he would get Brandon – killed or kill him – because they would not be in jail if Brandon had not talked.” Jones, who masterminded the plot to rob and eventually kill Ms. Crider, received a life sentence. Brandon, the slow one whose IQ score indicates that he falls within the range considered mildly mentally retarded who consistently attached himself to someone with a stronger personality, received a death sentence.

Since Hedrick’s trial, the execution of persons with mental retardation has been prohibited.  Virginia law requires capital defendants to receive a comprehensive evaluation about mental retardation but does not allow Virginia courts to act in cases like Hedrick’s because he is too far along in the process: a legal Catch-22.

As in many death penalty cases, the competency of Hedrick’s court appointed trial counsel is in question. One of his attorneys is on record as stating, “(we) did not meet to seriously discuss trial strategy until one business day before trial.” Neither of Hedrick’s two defense lawyers had ever previously completed a capital murder trial. The lead attorney had never before selected a capital death-qualified jury. Witnesses were not interviewed by counsel until they were on the stand.  Brandon’s lawyers admittedly failed to adequately prepare for the trial. They failed to present available mitigating factors, which could have influenced the jury’s appraisal of his moral culpability. The jury did not know of the threat by Jones, the prosecution’s main witness, to “get Brandon killed.” Mitigation evidence not presented at trial includes a family history of substance abuse, vulnerability to the influence of others, repeated suicide attempts, school records and borderline intelligence. Brandon who was only 18 at the time of the tragedy has consistently maintained that he and Lisa Crider had consensual sex. The only evidence of rape was presented by Trevor Jones’ questionable testimony and defense counsel failed to even raise the issue of Jones’ credibility in their closing statement.

The jury sentenced Hedrick to death because based on the trial testimony of Trevor Jones they believed his crimes were so vile and because they thought he posed a continuing threat to society. The former determination was disputed by the defense, which claimed that a single shot to the head did not meet the statutory standard of "outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture, depravity of mind or an aggravated battery to the victim." The Supreme Court of Virginia's support for the jury's finding may be in conflict with a major United States Supreme Court case, Godfrey v. Georgia, which overturned the conviction of a murderer who killed two victims with one bullet each.

In addition, Hedrick was denied an opportunity to know which precise showings the Commonwealth would use to make its case for death. The United States Constitution requires that a criminal defendant has the right to know which charges are being brought against him so that he has an opportunity to prepare a defense. The Commonwealth never told - and the trial judge refused to have the Commonwealth reveal - whether it would ask the jury for a death sentence based on the vileness or the future dangerousness sentencing factor, even after the defense specifically asked. Thus the defense never knew exactly what conduct it had to defend against in order to convince the jury not to sentence Hedrick to death.