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The Death Penalty
in Virginia and
ABOLISH The Jewish Tradition
Souacee March 3, 2013
Congregation Beth Ahabah
Richmond
Historical Background on
Virginia & the Death Penalty
In 1892, after a white girl said she had been accosted by a
black man wearing rubber boots, a mob grabbed the first
black man they found with rubber boots on and hanged
him near Wasena Bridge.
The next year, Roanoke's mayor called in the state militia to
stop another mob from lynching a black man accused of
assault. Eight died in the ensuing gunfire. The clashes
continued until police handed Thomas Smith over to the
rabble. Smith was proved innocent after his death.
Horrors repeated in 1904, when a white woman and her daughter were brutally
attacked in their home by a black stranger. Whites believed black residents were
harboring the killer and went on rampages based on rumors, in one instance tying
an innocent black man to a telephone pole and lashing the screaming victim with
electric wires. The vitriol didn't subside until Henry Williams was arrested, convicted
and executed by hanging in the Roanoke jail yard.
Historical Background on
Virginia & the Death Penalty
Roanoke's racial climate was typical in the South.
"During this era, both lynchings and executions
typically drew large crowds of spectators," said
Ted DeLaney, associate professor of history at
Washington and Lee University. "There were
executions and lynchings in other parts of the
South that drew crowds as large as 3,000.
Sometimes public schools would close so children
could be present."
— "Roanoke's last public execution," Roanoke Times
(June 14, 2007)
Death Penalty States
~ 33
Alabama Louisiana Pennsylvania
Arizona Maryland South Carolina
Arkansas Mississippi South Dakota
California Missouri Tennessee
Colorado Montana Texas
Delaware Nebraska Utah
Florida Nevada Virginia
Georgia New Hampshire Washington
Idaho North Carolina Wyoming
Indiana Ohio
Kansas Oklahoma U.S. Government
Kentucky Oregon U.S. Military
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Fact Sheet [October 16, 2012]
Death Penalty States (blue)
Executions by State Since 1976
As of October 16, 2012
Mississippi 21
Indiana 20
Delaware 16
California 13
Illinois 12
Nevada 12
Utah 7
Tennessee 6
Maryland 5
Washington 5
Nebraska 3
Pennsylvania 3
Kentucky 3
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Fact Sheet [October 16, 2012]
States With Most Executions (red)
Death Row Prisoners by State
As of April 1, 2012
South Carolina 56
Mississippi 53
Missouri 47
Arkansas 40
Oregon 37
Kentucky 35
Delaware 18
Idaho 14
Indiana 14
Virginia 12
Nebraska 11
Connecticut 11
Kansas 10
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Fact Sheet [October 16, 2012] using data from
the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Death Row USA (April 1, 2012).
Complexity of the Death Penalty
e U.S. Supreme Court outlawed capital
punishment in 1972 (Furman v. Georgia)
— Inconsistent application of the DP
— Racial disparities in the DP
¢ Revised state laws approved by the U.S.
Supreme Court in 1976 (Gregg v. Georgia)
— Implemented two stage trail process
— Aggravating & mitigating factors
Procedural Safeguards in DP Cases
State Habeas Corpus
Petition to
Supreme Court
of Virginia
If granted (rare),
Hearing with the
Circuit Court
Decision by the
Virginia Supreme
Court
The Hebrew Scripture
Whoever takes the life of any human being
shall be put to death;
whoever takes the life of an animal shall
make restitution of another animal. A life
for a life! Anyone who inflicts an injury on
his neighbor shall receive the same in
return.
Limb for limb, eye for eye, tooth for tooth!
The same injury that a man gives another
shall be inflicted on him in return.
- Leviticus 24: 17-19
The Hebrew Scripture
Despite the Law’s insistence on
“plood for blood,” God
allowed Cain to live after
killing Abel and chose two
killers to play prominent roles
in salvation history:
— Moses (Exodus 2:12)
- David (2 Samuel 11: 14-15)
Jewish Positions on the Death
Penalty
All of the major Jewish movements in the United States either
advocate for the abolition of the death penalty or have
called for at least a temporary moratorium on its use.
The Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist movements in
the United States oppose the death penalty in all instances.
In 2001, Orthodox Jewish leaders called for a moratorium in
light of perceived problems in the nation's criminal justice
system, and urged the creation of a commission to review
death penalty procedures.
Source: The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life (2009)
Jewish Leadership Against Capital Punishment
Jews have been leaders in the
death penalty movement for
many years. They played
prominent roles in successful
abolition campaigns in:
**New York
*“*New Jersey
“Illinois
“*Connecticut
Jewish Leadership in Maryland
While the Bible permits the death penalty, the
Talmud, in tractate Sanhedrin, imposes
severe limits on the administration of BALTIMORE
execution even where the death sentence is Boarb OF Rassis
mandated for murder.
> Circumstantial evidence is inadmissible.
> Two eyewitnesses must provide corresponding testimony and must
have forewarned the murderer that such an act is punishable by
execution.
>Judgment by a large Sanhedrin (rabbinical court) is required to
afford the defendant every benefit of the doubt.
> Following conviction, the witnesses themselves must initiate the
execution.
> Witnesses are held responsible not only for the death of the
defendant but also for the souls of all his would-be progeny.
Jewish Leadership in Maryland
Finally, Sanhedrin remarks: “A court that executes a
murderer once in 70 years is a bloody court.” It is
evident that our Rabbis found the application of BR share - Ragpis
capital punishment abhorrent. Still, they worried
that overturning the death penalty might be
dangerous to society.
We note that the State of Israel follows the example of the Sages and
does not impose the death penalty even on terrorist-murderers. The only
ground for imposing capital punishment in Israel’s legal code is “crimes
against humanity.”
.. We are cognizant that the sanctity of life, already violated by a murder,
is not enhanced by the death penalty. Such sanctity must be modern
society’s supreme value.
Therefore, the Baltimore Board of Rabbis vigorously supports the
ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY IN MARYLAND. (2012)
Problems with the death penalty
GEOGRAPHIC DISPARITIES
@ South
m Midwest
m West
m Northeast
mTX&VA
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Fact Sheet [October 16, 2012]
Problems with the death penalty:
THE FACES OF INNOCENCE [AMI \\(@]@ 4 )\1 @
¢ Since 1973, 141 people
have been released from
death row with evidence
of their innocence.
¢ These innocents spent an
average of 9.8 years on
Bi 2 SRE Fae death row, for a total of
719, Sale Late (> 1,382 years.
D P DEATH PENALTY
I C INFORMATION CENTER
Other problems with the
death penalty
It is not a deterrent to violent crime. -
It is far costlier than life in prison without parole.
Killers are media stars in our death penalty
system.
Lengthy appeals process re-traumatizes family
members of murder victims over & over again.
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Fact Sheet [October 16, 2012]
Daughter of a slain state trooper speaks
Having spent my entire life without my dad, I was
angry and had wanted his killers executed.
But over time, after | saw how the death penalty
system actually works, my feelings on the
issue changed.
What I’ve discovered is a legal process that no murder victim’s family
should have to endure. We already have been through enough.
We deserve better than a system that forces us to go through long
trials and endless appeals. The death penalty focuses an incredible
amount of attention on the killers, which makes victims’ families
relive the painful details of a murder over and over.
Problems with the death penalty
Collateral Damage
Few people consider the impact of capital punishment on
a wide range of people who are part of the system:
- Prosecutors
Defense attorneys
Judges and jurors
Family members of death row inmates
Wardens and corrections officers
Executioners (like Jerry Givens in the photo above)
Six Former Executioners Speak Out
While most of the prisoners whose executions we
participated in accepted responsibility for the crimes
for which they were punished, some of us have also
executed prisoners who maintained their innocence
until the end. It is those cases that are most haunting
to an executioner.
Living with the nightmares is something that we know from experience. No one
has the right to ask a public servant to take on a lifelong sentence of nagging
doubt, and for some of us, shame and guilt.
Should our justice system be causing so much harm to so many people when
there is an alternative?
— Allen Ault — Retired Warden, Georgia Diagnostic & Classifications Prison
— Terry Collins — Retired Director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
— Ron McAndrew - Retired Warden, Florida State Prison
— Dennis O’Neill - Retired Warden, Florida State Prison
— Reginald Wilkinson — Retired Director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
— Jeanne Woodford — Retired Warden, San Quentin State Prison
But the tide is
turning against
the death
penalty.
More States Considering DP Abolition
Number of Executions Since 1976
Total of 1,309
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
Executions by Year Since 1976
98
85
74
7
68
66 65
60
2
| | Hl om
o Jo o °*
SSSSSRERRERRERRRBRBRESCRBRBERBSERBSERBBRBERBERBE
sleas8 2888 8888 28828 88288 8S SSscseserseeseesrsss
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Fact Sheet [October 16, 2012]
+102
Number of Death Sentences
By Year
Death Sentences in the U.S.
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Fact Sheet [October 16, 2012] based on data
from the Bureau of Justice Statistics: Capital Punishment, 2010” plus DPIC research.
Public Opinion on the Death Penalty
A 2010 poll by Lake Research Partners found that
a clear majority of voters (61%) would choose a punishment
other than the death penalty for murder.
@ Life without parole plus
restitution
m Death penalty
@ Life without parole
@ Life with parole
m= No opinion
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Fact Sheet [October 16, 2012]
Anatomy of a Death ¢ |
Penalty Case él) 4
Commonwealth v. Justin Wolfe
Who is Justin Wolfe?
HB NTILLY “D
“¢ Oldest of three children in white, middle class
family in NOVA.
**Got involved using and selling marijuana as
teenager.
“*In 2001, at age of 20, convicted of hiring
someone to kill his drug supplier and
sentenced to death.
Summary of Evidence Against Wolfe
Per Virginia Supreme Court
** Wolfe was a major drug dealer in NOVA.
** His supplier was Daniel Robert Petrole, Jr.
“+ At time of Petrole’s death, Wolfe owed him between
$60,000 and $80,000.
** Shooter was Owen M. Barber, IV, a “good friend” of Wolfe.
** Barber testified that he and Wolfe had discussed robbing
drug dealers on many occasions.
Summary of Evidence Against Wolfe
[continued]
“* Barber testified that Wolfe hired him to rob and kill Petrole. He
shot Petrole 10 times from distance of 5 or 6 feet.
“* Barber testified that he did not know Petrole.
* Barber’s testimony corroborated by other witnesses, including
J. R. Martin and Jennifer Pascquierllo.
+o
ate
“* Petrole’s father testified he was unaware of son’s drug
activities.
*¢ Wolfe testified he was innocent, but admitted that he was the
last person Barber called before killing Petrole and the first
person Barber called after Petrole’s death.
Justin Wolfe v. Harold Clarke | ¥
** Habeas Corpus case challenging the fairness of Wolfe’s
criminal trial.
** Filed in federal court following affirmance of Wolfe’s
conviction and death sentence by Virginia state courts.
** Wolfe claimed misconduct by prosecutors in not turning
over to defense evidence inconsistent with guilt and
consistent with innocence and in knowing use of false
testimony.
** Brady v. Maryland (1963) and Giglio v. United States
(1972).
Wolfe v. Clarke
Summary of Evidence
“* Prosecutors got their witnesses together before trial to
“choreograph and coordinate” their testimony.
** Prosecutors did not disclose to defense report of Detective
Newsome who arrested Barber. Report stated that Newsome
implicated Wolfe in shooting before Barber mentioned any
involvement by Wolfe.
“* Newsome’s report also said he told Barber that implicating
Wolfe could be difference “execution or life in prison” for
Barber.
“¢ Prosecutors withheld evidence that Barber knew Petrole well,
had extensive drug dealings with him and owed him money and
that “Petrole had a hit out on Barber.”
Wolfe v. Clarke
Summary of Evidence [cont’d]
“* Prosecution withheld evidence that Petrole was rumored to be
an informant.
*“* Prosecution withheld evidence that Petrole’s father was aware
of his son’s drug activities and allowed the father’s testimony to
the contrary to remain uncorrected.
*“* Prosecution withheld evidence that Barber told his roommate
that he acted alone in killing Petrole.
“* Owen Barber testified that Justin Wolfe was not involved in the
murder of Daniel Petrole and that he lied about Wolfe’s
involvement because he wanted to avoid the death penalty.
Wolfe v. Clarke
Court’s Findings
*¢ Prosecution failed to disclose to the defense numerous items of
exculpatory evidence, in violation of Brady v. Maryland.
“* Prosecution knowingly used perjured testimony, in violation of
Giglio v. United States.
Vea tt
** Prosecution’s “actions served to deprive Wolfe of any
substantive defense in a case where his life would rest on the
jury’s verdict. The Court finds these actions not only
unconstitutional ... but abhorrent to the judicial process.”
“* Court vacated the convictions and death sentence. Decision
affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Virginians for Alternatives
to the Death Penalty
http://www.vadp.org/
Pr oY
VIRGINIANS FOR
ALTERNATIVES
TO THE DEATH PENALTY
Ending the Death
Penalty through
Education,
Organizing &
Advocacy
