Originally Posted by
halls120
Since you don't live in the Commonwealth, I'll give you a pass on your knowledge of how we treat murderers. Overall, Virginia has executed more capital defendants than any other state in the union, and post 1982 (the "modern" era), only Texas executes more defendants than we do, and when you are convicted of capital murder in Virginia, your stay on death row is short.
That said, the current CA in Henrico appears to be a political hack, so I'd bet political correctness will work against a capital murder conviction in this case.
I was actually a resident in that region for a period of time as a younger man. While the approach to capital punishment in VA is statistically "quicker and more consistent", this is not an open and shut case based on what is being
put out now. Juries are notoriously unpredictable in cases where a situation involving domestic violence are concerned. I could be wrong, but I don't think this is going to be a case that results in the needle.
Originally Posted by
FliesWay2Much
I admit that I went to public schools. I will also admit that I am not a learned, clairvoyant SPONik such as yourself. I will say that I have no idea what you are talking about, let alone your point.
And, up to a certain calendar date, our condemned inmates had the choice of the needle or the electric chair. The clerk was lucky he committed capital murder in Henrico County. If he had worked at IAD and lived in Prince William County, they would be cleaning out the IV lines with saline as we speak.
No SPOT involved in what I have said, nor is there any clairvoyance involved - simply a guess based on what I have seen in similar cases in the past.
Originally Posted by
jkhuggins
What I think West is saying is this: if there's any hint of sympathy for the defendant --- say because of the hints we've heard of a violent home environment that led to the killing of the father out of self-defense and/or the defense of others in the home --- then it's extremely unlikely that a jury will unanimously convict of first-degree murder and agree upon a death sentence. All you need is one holdout on the juryy who buys the sympathetic argument.
Of course, all politics is local, and so are all juries. I expect that some jurisdictions return death penalty sentences with greater frequency than others. Living in a state without the death penalty, I will defer to the observations of those who do.
This is an almost perfect relation of what I was saying. I merely voiced the opinion that I do not think this will wind up being a death penalty case, and if it does, I am not certain it will result in the needle. Thanks for the clarification!