@ Stop Tonight’ s Execution of
ALTERNATIVES Edward Bell!
TO THE DEATH PENALTY
The Commonwealth of Virginia is scheduled to execute Edward N. Bell, a man who is mentally
retarded and may be innocent of the crimes for which he is condemned, at 9 PM tonight!
There are substantial questions about the evidence which suggest that Bell’s innocent. Additionally, his trial
counsel’s performance was constitutionally deficient and he meets Virginia's statutory definition of mental
retardation.
There are too many unanswered questions in this case to be able to make a reasoned or humane argument for
execution. Governor Kaine is Eddie Bell’s final judge and jury. What he does may depend on the message he
receives from his constituency. Help us convince Govemor Kaine to commute this sentence to life in prison
with out parole. Some of the main issues in this case include:
1. His trial counsel was deficient - A Federal court found that his counsel’ s failures at sentencing were so
extreme that they fell below the constitutional minimum required by the Sixth Amendment - in effect, that
Bell’s sentencing counsel’s performance was so deficient as to be the equivalent of no counsel at all. Should
Goveror Kaine not intervene, Bell will be the 1 person since re-instatement of the death penalty in Virginia
to be put to death even though a federal court rendered this decision. Constrained by technicalities that
prohibit the court from considering clearly relevant evidence of prejudice, the system is unable to provide a
remedy.
2. Eddie is mentally retarded - Eddie has an IQ of 68 which makes him legally mentally retarded, but no
court has ever given Bell a hearing in which to prove his mental retardation. Executing an individual with
mental retardation violates the U.S. Supreme Court decision A tkins v. Virginia.
3. Critical Prosecution witness admits to lying on the witness stand - One of the prosecution’s main
witnesses was not swom before he testified and later refused to be swom. He was threatened with jail time
and finally was sworn. He now admits to lying while on the stand, but the time period has passed and it is too
late for this to be brought before the courts.
4. There was another person at the crime scene - A helicopter with infra-red technology picked out a person
hiding near the crime scene, but the police never investigated that person, because they already had Eddie in
custody.
5. The shooter was wearing different clothing - A police officer saw the shooter and clearly states that his
clothing was all black, he was about to see his back and his side when he tumed around. A nother police
officer saw Eddie and says his jacket “lit up like a Christmas tree” because it had a reflective band running
down the side of it - there was not enough time for Eddie to have changed clothing.
6. The gun couldn’t have been in Eddie's possession - The police searched the crime scene and left returning
many hours later to find the gun in plain view where they had searched with metal detectors and bomb
sniffing dogs the night before. Eddie was in custody and could not have placed the gun there.
Take Action against this injustice:
Contact G ov. Kaine via telephone and/or fax and ask him to grant clemency by commuting Bell's death
sentence to life without the possibility of parole: Phone: (804) 786-2211 Fax: (804) 371-6351
Sign the petition at: www.thepetitionsite.com/4/Clemency-For-Eddie
Attend a Vigil - There will vigils held across the state, including at the Courthouse metro stop. Fora vigil in
your area, visit: www.vadp.org/attend-a-vigil.html
For more information on this case, please visit: www.clemency4eddie.net or contact Virginians for Alternatives
to the Death Penalty (VADP)
VADP - P.O. Box 4804 Charlottesville, VA 22905 - (434) 960-7779 - office@vadp.org - www.vadp.org
