Join family members of Virginia death row prisoners, families of the executed, and murder victims' families in calling for a moratorium on executions.
Saturday April 29  2PM
The Bell Tower 
(9th and Franklin Streets)
The Capitol Grounds in Richmond

Call 888-567-8237 for more information.

VADP kicked off its campaign for a moratorium on executions at last year's annual conference in October. We have now joined in with groups all over the country,
which are proposing a moratorium on executions in their states. 
    The resolution calls for the state to stop executions until changes are made, "to
ensure that death penalty cases are administered fairly and impartially: to minimize the
risk that innocent persons may be executed; to strive to eliminate discrimination in capital
sentencing on the basis of the race of either the victim or the defendant; and to prevent the
execution of mentally retarded persons and persons who were under the age of 18 at the
time of their offense."
    On January 18, the City Council of Charlottesville unanimously passed the resolution becoming the first local governing body in the state to do so. A number of religious organizations including the Virginia Council of Churches, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, the Virginia Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action and, and individual parishes have since passed resolutions.
    A number of newspapers have also supported a Moratorium, including the Staunton News-Leader and the Potomac News, both being supporters of the death penalty, but acknowledging that the system in Virginia is flawed and needs to be reevaluated.
    On January 31, the republican pro-death penalty Governor of Illinois, citing the
rate of death row prisoners being exonerated in that state, took the bold step in stopping
all executions until their system could be evaluated. In a letter the next day, Henry Heller, Executive Director of VADP wrote Gov. Gilmore, requesting that he, too, put a halt to executions. Nearly a month later, a Governor's aide responded that the governor saw no problems with the system in Virginia and there was no need for a moratorium. Yet, the governors of Indiana and Kansas have called for a review of the death penalty in their respective states. 
    Heller also pointed out that 4 former death row prisoners, Joe Giarratano, Herbert Bassett, Earl Washington, and Joseph Payne remain imprisoned and prohibited from 
introducing their newly discovered evidence of innocence, although former Governor's commuted their death sentences because of doubts of their guilt. He also mentioned  Roger Coleman (1992) and Dennis Stockton (1995) who were executed in Virginia whose cases have been documented in books.
    The Governor and most of our State Legislators seem to hide behind their blankets of appearing tough on crime unwilling to admit that their "perfect" system is possible of being flawed. A Moratorium on the Death Penalty does not abolish the Death Penalty. 
It merely puts a halt to it until the system can be studied.  If you would like to bring the issue up in your community, please go to our Moratorium page on our web site or call. And please join us on April 29 at the Capitol with death row family members, families of those who have been executed, and murder victims' family members in calling for a moratorium on executions.
    Please contact Gov. Gilmore with your concerns: Gov. Jim Gilmore, PO Box 1475, Richmond, VA 23212. Phone (804) 786-2211, Fax (804) 786-3985. 

    Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Congressmen Bill Delahunt of Massachusetts and Ray LaHood of Illinois have introduced the  Innocence Protection Act of 2000 which calls for the availability of DNA testing and the admission of the findings on appeal for prisoners and those on death row. 
   The bill would also improve the system of representation for those facing the death penalty. Sen. Leahy and Rep. Delahunt are former prosecutors. (see page 5)

For the 2nd consecutive year the efforts to repeal the dreaded 21- Day Rule went farther than ever before. By the time it was over there wasn't a legislator that hadn't heard about the 21-Day Rule, thanks to the efforts of the Coalition to Repeal the 21-Day Rule which included Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy amongst others. The VICPP made the issue part of their candidate forums across the state before the November election and made the issue part of their legislative program during the session.
    The first order of moving the bill (HB1311) along was getting co-sponsors. Nearly 50 legislators signed on to it this year. Up from 40 last year, there were a number of converts. VADP provided 140 copies of Dead Run- The Dennis Stockton Story, to provide legislators a resource of a Virginia man who was unable to present his evidence of innocence to a Court and was subsequently executed.  Del. Almand's office sent newspaper editorials to fellow legislator's calling for reform of the 21-Day Rule and accumulated a couple hundred names of ordinary Virginians who were supporting the bill. 3,200 signatures from petitions collected since the Virginia Journey of Hope in 1996 were presented to Courts of Justice Committees.
    The first hurdle was Subcommittee #1 of the House Courts of Justice. The subcommittee heard testimony from Steve Rosenfield, Dennis Stockton's appeals attorney but was for the most part unmoved. The vote went down party lines 6-6. That meant it was not recommended to the Committee, but Del. Almand could still bring it up in full committee. The full commit tee barely passed it when Del. William Howell joined Del. Michele McQuigg as the lone Republicans to vote in favor of an amended bill offered by Del. Almand.  The amended bill put a time limit of 3 years (instead of 21 days) and a limit of 2 bills of review (separate appeals of innocence) that would be allowed. 
    HB1311 had passed its first 2 tests and now it was on to the floor of the House of
Delegates for a full vote. With a number of legislators changing their vote from last year
when it lost by 5 votes, the bill easily passed 73-25. Even very ardent supporters of the death penalty like Del. Paul Harris, broke ranks with fellow Republicans on Courts of
Justice and voted in favor of HB1311 on the floor. 
    But the Senate would prove to be another story.  The first test was the Senate Courts of Justice. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, Del. Almand was wheeled in on a wheelchair, a week after suffering broken ribs in a car accident, to present his bill to the committee. For 11/2 hours legislator's heard a barrage of testimony from the Attorney General's representatives, a Commonwealth's Attorney, and a group of murder victims' family members, all speaking in opposition of the bill. Speaking for the bill was former Attorney General Anthony Troy. The discussion amongst the Committee was lively. A substitute bill introduced by the Chairman, Sen. Stolle of Virginia Beach, amending the bill to 45 days passed unanimously, but not without comment from three senators who had lost loved ones to murder who were for Del. Almand's original bill. 
    The Senate version was now off to the full Senate for a floor vote and after more discussion and after efforts to compromise between 3 years and 45 days were rejected,
Sen. Stolle's "45-Day Rule" passed 23-15. Realizing that 45 days was just 24 days more 
than 21, and that the original intent of the bill was to allow new evidence of innocence to be introduced in a court of law at any time, Del. Almand withdrew his bill for further consideration during the year when committees will meet.
    All in all, because of grassroots pressure the Capital Case Bill of Review went farther than it had ever gone before. You can continue contacting your legislator's and let them know that there is no compromising justice when there is a possibility of the state executing an innocent person. 

Below is how the House of Delegates voted

YEAS-Abbitt, Almand, Amundson, Armstrong, Barlow, Baskerville, Bennett, Blevins, Bloxom, Bolvin, Brink, Broman, Bryant, Byron, Callahan, Christian, Cox, Cranwell, Crittenden, Darner, Davis, Day, DeBoer, Deeds, Devolites, Diamonstein, Dickinson, Dillard, Grayson, Hall, Hamilton, Hargrove, Harris, Howell, Hull, Ingram, Joannou, Johnson, Jones, D.C., Jones, J.C., Jones, S.C., Keister, Landes, Larrabee, Marshall, May, McEachin, McQuigg, Melvin, Moran, Morgan, Moss, O'Brien, Orrock, Plum, Pollard, Purkey, Rhodes, Robinson, Rollison, Scott, Shuler, Spruill, Suit, Tata, Tate, Van Landingham, Van Yahres, Wagner, Wardrup, Watts, Williams, Woodrum--73. 

NAYS-Albo, Black, Cantor, Clement, Councill, Drake, Dudley, Griffith, Jackson, Katzen, Kilgore, Louderback, McClure, McDonnell, Nixon, Parrish, Phillips, Reid, Ruff, Rust, Sherwood, Stump, Ware, Weatherholtz, Mr. Speaker--25. 

ABSTENTIONS-0. 
NOT VOTING--Putney, Thomas--2.

Below is the breakdown on the vote on the amended Senate bill which would amend the
21 days to 45.

YEAS-Barry, Bolling, Chichester, Forbes, Hanger, Hawkins, Holland, Martin, Miller, K.G., Newman, Norment, Potts, Puckett, Quayle, Rerras, Reynolds, Schrock, Stolle, Stosch, Trumbo, Wampler, Watkins, Williams--23.

NAYS-Byrne, Couric, Edwards, Houck, Howell, Lambert, Lucas, Marsh, Maxwell, Miller, Y.B., Mims, Puller, Saslaw, Ticer, Whipple--15. 

NOT VOTING--Colgan, Marye--2. 

Head of the Attorney General's "Death Squad", Donald Curry sent a memo to commonwealth's attorney's across the state asking them to contact their legislators to oppose the study because it might lead to a moratorium on executions during the length of the study.

     Expansion Bills- Two death penalty expansion bills were referred to the Crime Commission this session.  HB270 and it's companion bill SB129 would make it a capital offense to kill a person because of the victims' actual or perceived race, color, gender, sexual orientation, religious conviction, or national origin. HB271 and SB130 would make it a capital offense for killing a person for the purpose of preventing that person from testifying in any judicial proceeding. The bills patrons are Del. Harry Parrish and Sen. Charles Colgan. The Crime Commission will hear these bills during the year.

Benjamin Lilly was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 murder of Alexander DeFilippis, a Virginia Tech student. In a 5-2 ruling, the Virginia Supreme Court ordered a retrial. The same court unanimously upheld the death sentence in a previous ruling. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that convicting Ben Lilly on the basis of a statement made to police by his brother and co-defendant, Mark Lilly, violated Ben's Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him. Mark told police his brother pulled the 
trigger, but invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refused to testify at trial. 
    The trial judge allowed the statement to be entered into evidence without Ben's attorney getting the opportunity to cross-examine. As a result, the case went back to the Virginia Supreme Court and this time they concurred. Ben's retrial is scheduled to begin on May 3 in Montgomery County.
    In a recent development, Ben Lilly could escape the death penalty if the Circuit Court Judge and the DeFillippis family agree with a plea agreement reached by defense attorney's and the prosecution.  At this time all that is known is that the prosecution has agreed to accept a lesser sentence of life without parole.

    The Virginia ACLU recently released a 48- page report detailing unfair trials, poor representation of defendants, limited appeals court review, and the possible execution of innocent men since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977. The report also 
goes on to show how the death penalty is influenced by the race of the defendants and 
victims, and the location of the offenses.

    The report calls for a suspension of the death penalty, based on the following findings: 
    A black person who robs and murders a white in Virginia is four times more likely to be
sentenced to death than if the victim were black. Of the 76 people executed since 1982,
only 2 white people were executed for the murder of blacks.

    From 1978 to 1997, 41 percent of the victims of capital crimes were black. Yet, of the 145 crimes for which a death sentence was imposed during the same period, only 19 %
involved black victims. Two decades after Virginia reinstated its death penalty, the state's murder rate is basically unchanged. 

    The state has no enforceable way to ensure that capital murder defendants too poor to afford a lawyer receive competent representation. And lawyers appointed by judges to handle capital cases are six times more likely to be the subject of bar disciplinary 
proceedings than their colleagues. 

    Appellate courts rarely correct trial errors. The Virginia Supreme Court has reversed 8 percent of the death sentences it has considered since 1977; the average reversal rate nationwide is 40 percent. 

    The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, often the court of last resort for the state's condemned and considered the most conservative federal panel in the nation, has granted relief in just one of 128 death sentences. Virginia also has a federal appeals court 
with the lowest reversal rate for death cases in the country -- the 4th U.S. Court of Appeals. Nationwide, federal appeals courts grant new hearings to death-row inmates 39 percent of the time, while the 4th Circuit has approved such hearings in Virginia cases only 4 percent of the time. 

   Prosecutorial discretion -- the power of common-wealth's attorneys to decide when to pursue the death penalty -- has created a wide disparity among jurisdictions in the use of the death penalty. Some common-wealth's attorneys routinely seek the death penalty, while others never, or almost never, seek it. As a result, between 1978 and 1997, eight jurisdictions -- Prince William, Arlington, Pittsylvania, Bedford, Chesterfield and Montgomery counties and the cities of Danville and Hampton -- have imposed one-third of Virginia's death penalties, even though those jurisdictions recorded only 10 percent of the state's potential capital murders. 
   The study cites FBI statistics that show the murder rate in those jurisdictions has risen since 1978, while the murder rate in counties and cities where no one has been sentenced to death has fallen. 
    The state has no enforceable means of ensuring that competent lawyers are appointed to represent indigent defendants in capital-murder trials. Some 97 percent of the men sentenced to death since 1977 have been too poor to afford their own lawyers. 
    Yet, it is virtually impossible to assess the quality of lawyers in capital-murder trials "using the few records and reports the state requires," the study says. 
   The first decade after Virginia enacted its new death-penalty statute, there were no standards by which lawyers were selected to represent poor defendants. Their fees were capped at $650 per case. The state now has standards and a list of lawyers who meet them. However, there is no screening mechanism. Lawyers can join the list simply by filling out a form identifying themselves as qualified, according to the study. "In any event, the statute that led to the promulgation of these standards specifically notes that judges are not required to appoint lawyers from the list," the study says.
    A spokesman for Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley blasted the report. "It speaks volumes to the average citizen that the ACLU would release a biased and erroneous report on the death penalty at the beginning of Crime Victims' Rights Week in Virginia and nationwide," deputy press secretary Randy Davis said. "No one should lose sight of the fact that the ACLU is a group opposing the death penalty in all cases, no matter how vile and malicious the crime."  Asked to identify errors in the report, the attorney general's office declined further comment. 

    The report, listing VADP as an endorser, titled "Unequal, Unfair, and Irreversible: the Death Penalty in Virginia was researched by Laura LaFay, a law student and former reporter with the Virginian Pilot. The report can be seen in it's entirety by accessing the 
web site of VADP or the ACLU.

    At a recent symposium on religion's role in the administration of the death penalty held at the William and Mary School of Law, Pat Robertson, the founder of the Christian Coalition, said when asked, that a moratorium on executions would be a "good solution" to a system that is unfair. Although Robertson did not mention his support of a moratorium in his keynote address, he acknowledged his support when the question was posed during a question and answer period. 
    When questioned afterwards by reporters, Robertson said that while he was in "substantial agreement" with the general idea of a moratorium, he needed to study the ramifications before asking his supporters to back the cause.
    Robertson, referencing passages from both the Old and New Testament, stressed that he still believes the Bible sanctions the death penalty for hardened criminals. In 1998, Robertson called for clemency in the case of Karla Faye Tucker in Texas, citing that she had truly repented. Robertson revealed that he personally asked the Gov. to grant clemency to Lonnie Weeks, executed on March 16, because he felt that Weeks had repented. Yet Robertson was satisfied that justice was served with Weeks' execution and was pleased that state officials had afforded Weeks the chance to seek forgiveness from the children of Trooper Cavazos.

April 29 Rally (see above)

June 29- July 2  7th ANNUAL FAST & VIGIL TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY AT THE U.S. SUPREME COURT. For complete details, please visit abolition.org, or call 800-973-6548. June 29th is the anniversary of the Furman v. Georgia decision in 1972, in which the U.S. Supreme Court found the death penalty to be arbitrary and capricious. More than 600 condemned inmates had their death sentences reduced to life. All states were required to re-write their death penalty laws. July 2nd is the anniversary of the Gregg v. Georgia decision in 1976 which allowed the resumption of executions in the United States.

VADP Conference, Saturday Oct. 14, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Charlottesville
    Guest speakers include Bill Burke and Joe Jackson, authors of Dead Run,  The Untold Story of Dennis Stockton (executed in 1995) and America's Only Mass Escape from Death Row. 

November 3-5, 2000 Amnesty International Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, Richmond

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: November 16-19, 2000 
    Death Penalty Focus, the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, American Friends Service Committee, Amnesty International and other major abolitionist organizations will be hosting for the 1st time ever a combined national conference in San Francisco at the Cathedral Hill Hotel on Nov. 16-19, 2000. Scheduled to coincide with the opening of the new opera, Dead Man Walking, based on Sister Helen Prejean's book, this conference will bring together hundreds of activists from around the nation to advance the ongoing development of a strategic plan for abolition of the death penalty. Call 1-888-2-ABOLISH to add your name and address to the mailing list or for further information.

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