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Fall 1998 ANNUAL VADP CONFERENCE OCTOBER 24 IN CHARLOTTESVILLE What this tells us is that we still have much work to do. Recently, a group of dedicated individuals have been meeting in Richmond to discuss programs that can be initiated in their churches to educate their fellow parisherners to alternatives to the death penalty. VADP has been active this year by organizing a Press Conference in June with Maria Hines, the sister of a slain state trooper, who was in Virginia to plead for the life of Dennis Eaton. We also sent a copy of May God Have Mercy - The Roger Coleman case, to all 140 members of the Virginia General Assembly. We took part in a Spring book tour with John Tucker sponsored by the Mid- Atlantic Regional Office of Amnesty International. We will also be involved with Mr. Tucker’s tour this Fall at a number of Virginia law schools, also sponsored by AI. The Press continues to contact us for information. The results of the 1998 Quality of Life in Virginia Annual Survey have been published with results showing that for the 6th consecutive year Virginians continue to prefer alternatives to the death penalty. Support for the death penalty continues to decline when asked the generic question about the death penalty. In 1996, almost 83% of Virginians were in favor of the death penalty. This year, 75.4% favor it. In 1996, 13.2% opposed the death penalty. This year nearly 20% opposed it. The tide is turning. Virginians are realizing that, “execution may not be the solution.” Many of you have also felt the need not to remain silent. Besides vigils on the nights of executions at the prison as well as, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Manassas, Moneta, and Richmond, there are now vigils in Herndon, Lincoln (Loudon County), Norfolk, and Roanoke. Plans are moving along for an exciting and informative VADP Conference
on October 24th in Charlottesville. Speakers include Rob Lee of the Virginia
Resource Center, which handles Death Row prisoners’ appeals. Delegate Mitch
Van Yahres of Charlottesville. Also joining us will be John Tucker, author
of May God Have Mercy. His book has now been published in paperback and
will be available along with the hardcover. In the afternoon there will
be a Listening Project Training for those who want to conduct this extraordinary
interview with friends, family, and most important your legislators. Please
make plans to attend.
Speakers include, Rev. Robert L. Taylor, Pastor Emeritus, Fourth Baptist Church, Rev. Judith Maynard, Metropolitan Community Church of Richmond, Salim Khalfani, Director, Virginia NAACP, and Nancy Gowen, Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation. VADP joins the Office of Justice and Peace of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, Unitarian Universalists Against the Death Penalty, and the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy in sponsoring the event. For more information contact Tim Stanton at (804) 748-3265 or loistim@erols.com
Dwayne Wright was convicted in 1989 in Fairfax County for murdering Saba Tekle along with robbery and attempted rape. He was 17 at the time. Dwayne was raised in a drug- filled area of Washington, D.C. by his mother. His father had been in prison for most of Dwayne’s life. He often saw murders committed in his neighborhood as he was growing up. His older half brother was murdered when Dwayne was 10 years old. Both psycological experts for the defense and the Commonwealth testified that Dwayne’s intelligence bordered on mental retardation. He could barely read on the 6th grade level at the time of the crime. During incarceration he confessed to the crime. In his appeals his attorney’s claimed that the confession should have been suppressed because, (1) he was a juvenile, (2) his intelligence level was “below average”, (3) his mother was not present at the interrogation, and (4) he was promised leniency. The Appellate court disagreed with all of these objections and upheld his conviction. Dwayne also claims there was no evidence to support that the act of murder was premeditated. He was scared and panic stricken when he fired the gun that killed Saba Teckle. Ronald Lee Fitzgerald was sentenced to death in 1994 for the January, 1993 murders of Coy White, Hugh Morrison, and the abduction and rape of Claudia White and Tiffany Lovelace. He claims that the jury was not given instructions that he would be ineligible for parole. He also appealed on the grounds that a member of the jury had lied during jury selection. When asked if any member of his family had been raped, murdered, or abducted, the juror responded no although it was later revealed that his daughter was molested. The court found that the juror had responded truthfully since he was not asked if anyone in his family had been molested. To voice your concerns you can contact Governor Jim Gilmore at PO Box
1475, Richmond, VA 23212 or phone him at (804) 786-2211. His fax
number is (804)786-3985 and he can be contacted electronically by accessing
http://www.state.va.us/governor.
May God Have Mercy Author to Speak at Various Virginia Law Schools VADP would like to thank the Mid-Atlantic office of Amnesty for sponsoring the tour. Top by Joan Betz The purpose of the Fast and Vigil is to call attention to the Death Penalty between the dates that mark the anniversaries of 2 important Supreme Court decisions- Furman v. Georgia (1972) and Gregg v. Georgia (1976). This year was remarkable in that much outreach was done to visitors
who were passing by. Four very large signs were erected daily that informed
the public of the reason the group was at the Supreme Court. These signs
attracted people who were across the street at the Capitol and even the
tour bus drivers commented on the signs as they passed by the Court.
The fast and vigil is sponsored by the Abolitionist Action Committee
and was coordinated by VADP board member, Joan Betz. A number of VADP members
participated in the various events including Illana Naylor, Sharon and
Jeff Haydon, Linda Clare-Stanton and Jack Stanton, John Steinbach and Louise
Franklin-Ramirez, and Lark Brownell.
The appeal that the high court is reviewing is whether the prosecution
suppressed key documents that would have been helpful to the defense. Defense
lawyers had not seen 5 documents produced by the only eyewitness to the
abduction. Barbara Hartung, who is representing Tommy at this stage,
claims that the documents cast serious doubt on the testimony of the eyewitness
describing the woman’s struggle to remember the crime. At trial, she said
she was, “100 %” certain that she saw Strickler force his way into Whitlock’s
car.
The High court will decide if they will review his appeal when they
convene
on September 28. A decision is expected by the end of October.
Broadus was now put in the position to learn how the death penalty works from the other side. As part of Breard’s legal team working on his appeals process, he gathered information for an overview of defendants who, like Breard, were charged with a sex- related crime in Virginia. He found 33 cases for the period between 1985-1996. Of those, 14 of the convicted defendants were sentenced to death and 19 were sentenced to life in prison. To Broadus, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason who got life and who got death. Several of those who got life had committed murders just as atrocious as Breard’s. “There’s just no way I can conclude that the way we do this makes any sense,” said Broadus. “I have come to conclude that the way we apply the death penalty is very arbitrary.” He adds, “That’s not to suggest that juries or judges are arbitrary in making decisions…. But the composition of the jury…. Whether you’re in one locale as opposed to another- all of these are factors that come into play and might result in one person getting life and one death. It is impossible to assure consistency.” And so, William Broadus says, he can no longer condone capital punishment. “I can’t imagine ever going back to the other side on this”, he says. “What are we trying to accomplish through the death penalty? Is it to prevent others from committing murder? If so, it’s a drastic failure. Is it for retribution? Spite? An eye for an eye? If so, I’ve come to conclude that’s not something I want to subscribe to. If it’s to protect society, I think society can be protected just as well by keeping the person behind bars.” For the families and friends of the victim he explains. “Nothing
can bring back that person, and just like a murder an execution impacts
a huge number of people- robbing parents, spouses, children, and friends
of the person they love.
He said that he chose to be electrocuted because he didn't believe he deserved to die in the same position as Jesus Christ as is the case during lethal injection. Stewart was sentenced to death for the 1991 Mother's Day murders of his wife and their 5-month old son. In an interview with Frank Green of the Richmond Times Dispatch, Stewart explained that when prison officials left him the form to choose which way he preferred to be executed, he underlined- electrocution. "Their faces went blank", he recalled. The next morning they took him to see the prison psychiatrist and psychologist and they asked him why he didn't want to die humanely on the gurney. He responded by saying, "There ain't no humane way to put a human being to death if you stop and think about it." He explained that he went to see his estranged wife to try to reconcile. He had taken antidepressants and been drinking the night before the murders. He took a pistol along with him to kill himself if his wife rejected him. When she rejected his efforts, he shot both his wife and son twice in the head, then arranged the bodies in bed so that his wife was cradling his son in her arms. He said that he did not recall the slayings. According to his spiritual advisor, Kenneth Stewart died at peace with
himself. He was the 55th person to be executed in Virginia since reinstatement
of the death penalty in 1976. Virginia has executed more than any other
state other than Texas, which has executed 158 (14 this year). 47 people
have been executed in the U.S. thus far this year.
Top -Jason Guard Usually, the happenings are limited to who shows up in opposition and who shows up from the press. Tonight, we had the condemned man’s family to share the field with. It was me, Tim, and Anne (a newcomer). On the 1 1/2 hour drive we briefed Anne on Lance Chandler’s case. It was all but unmentioned in the press, whereas before we’d been a part of discussions, lights and cameras, and sometimes people who showed up just because the newspaper made it seem interesting. The media didn’t think this man was interesting though; a black man in his 20s who shot a convenience store clerk who refused to open the register. We knew we wouldn’t get any press by showing up tonight. No gains can be made if no one knows you were there. Oh well. Anne would have a dull first time and would be more concerned with swatting mosquitoes than anything else. These were my assumptions. We pulled onto the prison road and drove for a mile or so until we could see the field to the right. Then we noticed cars in the shadows of the trees. Then lights. Candles, lots of them. We parked a hundred yards from them and got out. It had to be the family of the Chandler’s victim. I’d heard that they come out sometimes to cheer and hope to see the lights dim (only VA uses lethal injection now, so no chance of that). As we closed in on the group of candle holders one of them came to meet us half way. He stood in our path, smirked and asked who we were. We told him that we oppose the death penalty and that we try to come out to all of VAs executions. He nodded and welcomed us saying that they were the Chandler family. His reason for stopping us: they don’t want the press. They’d turned several reporters away already. Pity. If they’d just ignored the reporters Lance Chandler would have made the news. Instead it would just be us tonight. Us being three white anti-death
penalty people, a student legal assistants from DC working on the case,
and at least 40 Chandlers (all black and probably below the middle class
income level). Many of them were wearing T-shirts with a big heart that
read “We love you, Turkey.” Turkey was Lance Chandler’s nickname.
I don’t know what to say about the next hour. It was like being transported into some other world. We were introduced and then stood in a circle and took part in a prayer that Marlon, Chandler’s aunt’s husband (our greeter), had mentioned was about to start. I don’t think he knew or cared that when we said we were Unitarian Universalists (I’m not claiming membership to this group yet) that we don’t pray to Jesus too often; at least not most of us. But...when in Rome. So we stood in a great big circle and Marlon announced in many different ways that we were all touched by Jesus here tonight, that we would all changed for the better here tonight, and that we will not let the devil into our lives again, that Lance Chandler was giving himself to God for us. This is when the crying started. It’s hard to hold hands, or even link arms while holding a candle. It must have been even harder for the Chandlers to sob on their neighbor’s shoulder as well. Tim went over to Marlon and asked if we could read the list of men executed (and their victims) since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, which we have always done. While he fetched the list and a guitar the law student read a statement from Chandler (the same one, I assume, that he would read before being put to death). It was very impressive. He told everyone that he loved them, told the Dix family (his victim was William Dix) he was sorry, and gave very articulate reasons for abolishing the death penalty. He wanted to know what Virginians thought they were proving by taking his life. I passed a bottle of OFF Skintastic around the circle. Tim got back and noodled lightly on the guitar while Anne and I read the list of names and dates. Anne handed it to me for the last time a few names before Chandler and I cringed. Right before saying his name I looked up, everyone was looking at me with wide glassy eyes, I took a deep breath and said, “August 20, 1998. Lance Chandler, William Dix.” Immediately Tim started singing Amazing Grace. Just as quickly as people joined in they dropped off, sobbing and turning away, some wandering with closed eyes. I tried to sing along but only knew the fist verse. Tim went on and the crying got more intense and widespread. People dispersed into the field to collect themselves as Tim trailed off, not sure if his song did more harm than good. Slowly we all moved over to the side of the road to watch for the van full of witnesses and the truck that would carry out the body. People were still crying. This is when I noticed the five state police cruisers parked on the other side of the road. They weren’t there when we arrived. Never have reinforcements been called in when we had a large number of white people. They were there because there was a crowd of uninvited black people near the gate to the prison. Amazing! A couple cars pulled up and ministers got out. Everyone gravitated to the black minister who seemed to be their Sunday preacher, hoping he would have words of wisdom. He had wisdom but I can’t vouch for his words. As if he knew exactly when to do it, he began preaching very loudly and moving away from the road just as the all black ambulance sped out of the prison. As he worked the crowd they shouted their agreement with the preacher that the lord would not leave them and they tried to ignore the spectacle of the meat truck and it’s contents of their dead loved one. The truck was soon out of sight and the man relaxed his voice until all you could here was the wailing and moaning of the people. Amazing! It’s amazing that our state can put these people through this with a clear conscience. Several women had to be held up or picked up off the ground from having fainted or just breaking down. As I looked around, not sure what to do, the most pleasant sight was the wet, confused faces of women without people to hug. That’s not very pleasant and makes for internal conflict when you aren’t used to hugging strangers. All the while Lance’s sister (an enormous, robust woman who seemed to be everyone’s spiritual advisor) was singing, really belting out, a beautiful and unfamiliar song. Eventually people calmed down and we said our good-byes. By now the
law student was a wreck, barely able to tell Tim who she was or give us
an anecdote of her efforts on behalf of the Chandlers. Maybe she
felt guilty because she couldn’t do more. Maybe she was making up
her mind to help the poor get a fair shake in court. Who knows. Maybe the
Chandlers will find strength in this experience. There was surprisingly
little outrage directed at the state for taking their Lance (Turkey) from
them. This family looked like it was used to being kicked while they’re
down. Hope was a thing solely derived from their minister.
(Marie Deans contributed to this article) In 1991, Giarratano was within days of being executed when Gov. Douglas Wilder commuted his death sentence. Years of investigation had turned up evidence that Joe may not have been the murderer of 2 women he knew in Virginia Beach. The evidence used to convict him was 5 different confessions he gave to the police. After his commutation, he was moved to Augusta Prison where he began an "Alternatives to Violence" program for inmates. He was transferred to Utah, some believe as a result of the overwhelming success of the program. In Utah, he uncovered human rights abuses by the Utah prison officials. Utah authorities soon transferred Giarratano to Illinois. Being returned to Virginia is not necessarily good news, because he was sent to Red Onion, Virginia's new premier isolation prison. The top of a very remote mountain was shaved off to place Red Onion, and although the rugged landscape is beautiful, prisoners can not see it, because windows are blacked out and rec yards are internal. Only the worst of the worst are housed at Red Onion. This prison has been on the drawing board for a number of years, and it is possible that Joe was sent out of state until Red Onion was up and running. Joe is in the first wave of its prisoners being housed there. No one seems exactly sure where Red Onion is, but one reporter who went there says it is about 7 hours from Richmond (the only way to get there is by car) and 8 to 9 hours from Charlottesville. It is somewhere in the area where Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Tennessee come together. If you'd like to write Joe, his address is:
The Listening Project Philosophy is based on the belief that in situations of conflict we believe that our opponents also have a piece of the truth and to focus on positive solutions. This builds trust so that the Listening Project participants can focus on their common humanity and their shared hopes and fears rather than looking at differences and prejudices. Thus the people you interview will be able to look critically at their own attitudes and be more open to new ideas, alternatives, and change. VADP had set as its goal for VADP members to interview all 140 members of the Virginia General Assembly as well as judges, commonwealth attorneys, etc. We succeeded in obtaining a small fraction of our goal when the Listening Project got put on the back burner because of lack of interest and the need for a coordinator. Well, the interest is back and Linda Stanton with the Friends Meeting in Herndon has volunteered to coordinate. As a result, VADP will conduct a Listening Project Training for all those interested during the afternoon session of the conference. If you are interested or know of others interested, please contact Henry Heller at (804) 263-8148 or e-mail henry@vadp.org. Please let us know as soon as possible so that we can prepare for your attending. “I shall ask for the abolition of the punishment
of death, until I have the infallibility of human judgement demonstrated
to me.”
by Linda Clare- Stanton With the Holidays just around the corner this might be just the right time to step into The Row and lighten someones load! To see our new pen-pal site access our web site at http://www.vadp.org
and press the pen-pals button. Anyone interested in becoming a penpal to
a condemned man can contact me at 7377 Stuart Circle, Warrenton, VA, 20187.
Phone #-540-349-8251.
On June 16, VADP organized the above press conference for Maria Hines, sister of slain trooper Jerry Hines. Ms. Hines was in Virginia to protest the execution of her brother's covicted murderer, Dennis Eaton who was executed on June 18. The event, widely covered by the press was held next to the tree planted during the Virginia Journey of Hope in September, 1996. Also attending the press conference were members of Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation. VADP members hold our banner which reads, Yes Virginia, There
is an Alternative to the Death Penalty!
October 12: VADP Director Henry Heller will speak about Virginia's death penalty at the Universalist Unitarian Church in Charlottesville at 7PM. Contact VADP for more information at (804) 263-8148. October 13: Faith Committee of VADP meets in Richmond at 4:45 at the offices of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. Contact Kathleen Kenney at (804) 359-566 or e-mail: loistim@erols.com October 14 : Rally to Protest Virginia’s record-breaking 10th execution will be held at Noon at Capitol Square, 9th St. between Grace and Broad. For more information contact Tim Stanton at (804) 748-3265 or loistim@erols.com October 24: Annual VADP Conference in Charlottesville. Contact: 804-263-8148
Nov. 15- 9:30 AM: “Death Penalty: National & International Scene” Speaker: Mr. Darrell Headrick- Chaplain, Randolf Macon College Nov. 22- 9:30 AM: “Theological and Scriptural Issues” Speaker: The Rev. Sandra M. Levy, Ph.D Rector St. Mark’s Nov. 29- 9:30 AM: “Forgiveness and Capital Punishment” Speaker: Dr. Everette Worthington- Psychology Dept., VCU. Author: To Forgive is Human Journey of Hope, From violence to healing: next stop - Tennessee
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