Virginia Legislature and the Death Penalty

Virginia Legislature and the Death Penalty

The Virginia General Assembly is once again in session!

Make your voice heard TODAY!

Death Penalty Bills 2006

Update 01March06

Please take a few minutes to review the list of bills on the death penalty before the legislature and contact your representatives in the Senate and House of Delegates.

Action: Vote Yes on SB 362, SB 552 & HB 176

Vote No on HB 782 & 1311

Find your delegate and senator at: http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform

See below for the status of each bill VADP is following.

VADP Supports: HB 45, SB 362, & SB 552

This bill is now before the governor! To contact Gov. Tim Kaine to ask him to sign this bill click on this link: http://www.governor.virginia.gov/AboutTheGovernor/contactGovernor.cfm.

HB 45 – Juvenile Death Penalty Abolished Patron: Del. Vincent F. Callahan, Jr.

Status:
12/12/05 House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/06 063408260
01/30/06 House: Reported from Courts of Justice (12-Y 10-N)
02/03/06 House: VOTE: PASSAGE (63-Y 34-N)
02/15/06 Senate: Reported from Courts of Justice (13-Y 2-N)
02/20/06 Senate: VOTE: (36-Y 4-N)
02/22/06 House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB45ER)

SB 362 – Juvenile Death Penalty Abolished

Patron: Sen. Patricia S. Ticer

Summary as introduced:
Elimination of capital punishment for minors. Restricts the death penalty to those who are 18 years of age or older at the time of the capital offense. Currently, the age is 16 or older at the time of the offense. This change is being made in response to the case of Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. (2005), decided March 1, 2005, in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments forbid the execution of offenders who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime.

Status

01/11/06 Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/06 061241134
01/25/06 Senate: Reported from Courts of Justice (14-Y 1-N)
01/31/06 Senate: VOTE: (34-Y 3-N)
01/31/06 Senate: Communicated to House
02/16/06 House: Assigned Courts sub: Criminal Law

02/22/06 This bill was recommended by the Criminal Law Sub-Committee.

03/01/06 Before House Courts of Justice in 2^nd hour of afternoon session

Please support this bill by calling members of the House Courts of Justice Committee to urge them to vote for this bill. See contact info below.

SB 552 – Destruction of Human Biological Evidence

Patron: Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle

Summary as introduced:
Destruction of human biological evidence; penalty. Makes it a Class 6 felony for a clerk of court or other public officer to intentionally destroy human biological evidence.

Status:
01/11/06 Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/06 061314820
01/25/06 Senate: Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments (15-Y 0-N)

02/07/06 Senate: Reported from Finance (14-Y 0-N)
02/10/06 Senate: VOTE: (40-Y 0-N)
02/16/06 House: Assigned Courts sub: Criminal Law

02/20/06 This bill was recommended by the sub-committee.

03/01/06 Before House Courts of Justice in 2^nd hour of afternoon session

Please support this bill by calling members of the committee to urge them to vote for this bill. See contact info below.

VADP Opposes: HB 782 & HB 1311

Each of the following bills would increase the use of capital punishment in Virginia. Studies on the death penalty and wrongful executions point to the necessity to limit eligibility for the death penalty.

HB 782 – Elimination of the Triggerman Rule

Patron: Del. C. Todd Gilbert & Sen. Mark D. Obenshain

Summary as introduced:
Elimination of the triggerman rule. Eliminates the "triggerman rule," which provides that only the actual perpetrator of a capital murder is eligible for the death penalty, and that accessories and principals in the second degree can only be punished with first degree murder.

Status:
01/10/06 House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/06 066144306

02/06/06 House: Reported from Courts of Justice (15-Y 1-N)
02/13/06 House: VOTE: PASSAGE (83-Y 16-N)
02/13/06 House: Communicated to Senate

02/14/06 Senate: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

03/01/06 Wednesday, 1/2 Hour after Adjournment, Senate Room A, GAB

This bill is on the Senate Courts of Justice Committee docket. Please call the members of this committee and ask them to vote against this bill.

HB 1311 – Capital Murder of a Witness

Patron: C. Todd Gilbert

Summary as introduced:
Capital murder of a person assisting in a criminal investigation; penalty. Adds to the list of offenses punishable as capital murder the willful, deliberate and premeditated killing of any person because he is assisting or previously assisted in a criminal investigation or prosecution.

Status:
01/11/06 House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/06 061353306
02/06/06 House: Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (20-Y 0-N)
02/10/06 House: VOTE: PASSAGE (89-Y 9-N)
02/13/06 Senate: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

03/01/06 Wednesday, 1/2 Hour after Adjournment, Senate Room A, GAB

This bill is on the Senate Courts of Justice Committee docket. Please call the members of this committee and ask them to vote against this bill.

The following bills are “dead” for the 2006 session. HB 188, HB 859, & SB 17 were supported by VADP but died in their respective Courts of Justice Committees. Their fate points to the importance of building support in 2006 for both abolition and a moratorium among the constituencies of the delegates and senators who voted against these bills. We would encourage you to take the time to write a personal note of thanks to the patrons and the legislators who voted for these bills. Check to see if your representatives voted for these bills.

HB 188 – Jury Instructions

Patron: Del. Robert G. Marshall

Summary as introduced:
Sentencing; death sentence. Requires in sentencing capital cases at the request of the defendant, a jury shall be instructed that an individual who was sentenced to death in the Commonwealth and twice scheduled to be executed was later granted an absolute pardon absolving him of guilt for a capital murder conviction on the basis of DNA testing, and that eyewitness identifications have been shown in many cases to be inaccurate and highly susceptible to suggestion, in addition to the requirement under current law that the jury be told that a defendant is not eligible for parole if sentenced to imprisonment for life.

Status:
01/02/06 House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/06 063023396
01/02/06 House: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
01/18/06 House: Assigned to Courts of Justice sub-committee: Criminal L...

02/15/06 House: Left in Courts of Justice

HB 859 – Abolition of the Death Penalty

Patron: Del. Frank D. Hargrove, Sr.

Summary as introduced:
Crimes; death penalty. Abolishes the death penalty for all Class 1 felonies committed on or after July 1, 2006.

Status:
01/10/06 House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/06 066590320
01/10/06 House: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
01/18/06 House: Assigned to Courts of Justice sub-committee: Criminal L...

01/25/06 Bill defeated by a vote of 11-1. Del. Melvin voted for abolition.

02/15/06 House: Left in Courts of Justice

SB 17 – Moratorium on the Death Penalty

Patron: Sen. Henry L. Marsh, III

Summary as introduced:
Death penalty; moratorium on executions. Provides that the Commonwealth shall not conduct executions of prisoners sentenced to death. All other matters of law relating to the death penalty, such as bringing and trying capital charges, sentencing proceedings, appeals and habeas review are not affected by the bill.

Status:
12/12/05 Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/06 062306756
12/12/05 Senate: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
01/16/06 Senate: Passed by indefinitely in Courts of Justice (11-Y 2-N)

A NO vote indicates support for a Moratorium on executions.

NAYS--Marsh, Lucas--2.

VADP opposed HB 1018 & HB 1441 as they would have increased the use of capital punishment in Virginia. They are dead for the 2006 session.

HB 1018 – Killing a Judge is Capital Murder

Patron: Del. Robert Hurt

Summary as introduced:
Capital murder. Provides that the willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of a justice or judge of any Virginia court, when such killing is for the purpose of interfering with the performance of the judge's official duties or because of the judge's official duties, is capital murder.

Status:
01/11/06 House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/06 063028160
02/06/06 House: Reported from Courts of Justice (18-Y 0-N)
02/10/06 House: Reported from Appropriations (19-Y 4-N)

02/14/06 House: VOTE: PASSAGE (90-Y 10-N)
02/15/06 Senate: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

02/22/06 This bill was referred by the Courts of Justice Committee for study as it increases the eligibility factors for capital punishment. It is dead for this session.

HB 1441 Law-enforcement officer; definition thereof.

Patrons: R. Steven Landes (chief), Sen. Emmett W. Hanger, Jr.

Summary as introduced:

Public safety; definition of law-enforcement officer. Includes within the definition any investigator of the Department of Corrections who is designated by the Director of the Department to have police power.

Status:

01/18/06 House: Presented and ordered printed 065719376
01/18/06 House: Referred to Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety
02/03/06 House: Reported from Militia, Police and Public Safety (22-Y 0-N)
02/03/06 House: Referred to Committee on Appropriations
02/08/06 House: Assigned App. sub: Compensation and Retirement (Putney)

02/15/06 House: Left in Appropriations. It is dead for this session.

Non-Death penalty Bill for which VADP encourages support

HB 176 Court-appointed counsel; court may waive limit on compensation for certain cases.
Lacey E. Putney | all patrons

Summary as introduced:
Criminal procedure; compensation of court-appointed counsel. Authorizes the court, in cases where court-appointed counsel represents a defendant on a felony charge that may be punishable for a period of more than 20 years, to waive the statutory limit on the compensation for such counsel when the time and effort expended, the result obtained, the novelty and difficulty of the issues, or other circumstances warrant such a waiver.

Full text:
12/30/05 House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/06 062423476

Amendments:
House amendments

Status:
12/30/05 House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/06 062423476
01/18/06 House: Reported from Courts of Justice (17-Y 0-N)
01/18/06 House: Referred to Committee on Appropriations
02/08/06 House: Reported from Appropriations with amendments (23-Y 0-N)
02/14/06 House: VOTE: PASSAGE (98-Y 0-N 2-A)
02/14/06 House: Communicated to Senate