_ The Death Penalty
in Virginia
July 6, 2020
5400 Club — Weinstein JCC
Richmond, VA
Executions by State Since 1608
Espy File DPIC Total
1608 - 1972 1976 — 2019 1608 — 2019
1. Virginia 1,277 113 1,390
2. Texas 755 567 1,322
3. New York 1,130 0 1,130
4. Pennsylvania 1,040 3 1,043
5. Georgia 950 75 1,025
6. North Carolina 784 43 827
7. Alabama 708 66 774
8. California 709 13 722
* Executions as of December 31, 2019
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Web Site
Virginia & the Death Penalty
Hanging was the predominant
execution method before 1909.
Other methods were used — three
people convicted of piracy in 1700
were gibbeted, four pirates were
hanged in chains in 1720, and a
female slave was burned in 1737.
From 1910 until 1994, the electric
chair was used for all executions.
Lethal injection and the electric chair
are existing execution methods.
Racial Terror at Heart of Virginia Political History
Soon after his 1874 inauguration as Governor of
Virginia, former Confederate General James L.
Kemper delivered an address to the General
Assembly:
"Henceforth, let it be understood of all, that the
political equality of the races is settled, and the
social equality of the races is a settled
impossibility.
“Let it be understood of all, that any organized
attempt on the part of the weaker and relatively
diminishing race to dominate the domestic
governments, is the wildest chimera of political
insanity.
“Let each race settle down in final resignation to
the lot of which has inexorably consigned it."
Reconstruction in America:
Racial Violence after the Civil War, 1865-1876
Equal Justice Initiative has documented more
May we never forget all those who suffered
and died because they asserted than 120 incidents of Reconstruction-era racial
their basic human right to be free. P s Bi can lan n
i violence in 40 Virginia counties — more than
y: x ¥ the 91 racial terror lynchings documented in the
he. x state between 1877 and 1950.
One summer evening in 1865, Ed and Jinny
Scott were walking in Richmond with two
friends. The four Black people parted to
allow two white men in Confederate uniforms
to pass, but the men were outraged that they
had not stepped off the sidewalk.
One of them hit Jinny Scott in anger and she fled for safety. Her husband came to
her defense, warning the white man, “If you strike her again | will strike you.”
In response, a white mob seized Mr. Scott and beat him severely, tortured him for
hours, and took him away in a partially-sealed coffin. Reporting the attack to
Freedmen’s Bureau officials several days later, Mrs. Scott said she had not seen her
husband since.
A Legacy of More Lynchings
(1877-1950)
Medium
ae MAP OF VIRGINIA'S
oe LYNCHING HISTORY
a > Capital News Serviee, when you sign up for
= Total of 91 documented lynchings in Virginia. More were never documented.
= Lynchings occurred in at least 50 localities in Virginia.
= Most localities had just one or two lynchings; however,
o Alleghany County had four, Danville five and Tazewell County had ten.
Lynching in the From 1880 to 1930 at least
New South 90 black & 20 white men in
Georgia and Virginia, 1880-1930 Virginia were lynched.
ee 8° [aw rooted in concern that
mob violence was a threat
to attract business &
industry.
¢ No white person was ever
convicted of lynching an
African-American.
Public Executions
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)
Modern Death Penalty Era
¢ 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 trial process
— Aggravating & mitigating factors
~ Death Penalty States
‘~~
Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
SOURCE:
28
Louisiana South Carolina
Mississippi South Dakota
Missouri Tennessee
Montana Texas
Nebraska Utah
Nevada Virginia
North Carolina Wyoming
Ohio
Oklahoma U.S. Government
Oregon U.S. Military
Pennsylvania
Death Penalty Information Center Web Site [June 1 2020]
Death Penalty States (blue)
Executions by State Since 1976
As of September 1, 2019
Texas
Virginia
Oklahoma
Florida
Missouri
Georgia
Alabama
Ohio
North Carolina
South Carolina
Arizona
Arkansas
Louisiana
563
113
112
Mississippi
Indiana
Delaware
California
Illinois
Nevada
Tennessee
Utah
Maryland
Washington
Nebraska
South Dakota
Idaho
Kentucky
Montana
Pennsylvania
Oregon
Colorado
Connecticut
New Mexico
Wyoming
U.S. Government
TOTAL
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Web Site [September 1, 2019]
PRPRPPNWWW
Geography of the Death Penalty
South 1242
Midwest
West
Northeast
Texas
*Federal executions are listed in the region in
which the crime was committed.
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Web Site [June 11, 2020]
Top 16 Counties by Executions Since 19
Not Including Texas
#13 Chesterfield County - 8
#7 Hamilton County - 1
#4 St. Louis City - 12
#5 Pima County - 11 105
—e
#7 Mobile County - 10
#7 Miami-Dade County - 10 ad
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Fact Sheet [November 1, 2018]
Executions by Race Since 1976
Race Number ercentage
508 34.5%
Black
Latino 124 8.3%
White 829 55.6%
Other 24
NOTE: The federal government counts some
categories, such as Hispanics, as an ethnic
group rather than a race. DPIC refers to all
groups as races because the sources for much
Race Number Percentage
Black 15.3%
333
Latino 150 6.9%
White 1646 75.6%
Other 46 2.3%
Persons Executed for Interracial Murders
288
20
White Def./ —_Black Def./
Black Victim — White Victim
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Web Site [November 1, 2018]
Death Row Prisoners by State
As of January 1, 2020
California
Florida
Texas
Alabama
Pennsylvania
N. Carolina
Ohio
Arizona
Nevada
Louisiana
U.S. Government
Tennessee
725
347
218
175
147
145
141
119
74
69
62
52
Georgia
Oklahoma
Mississippi
South Carolina
Oregon
Arkansas
Kentucky
Missouri
Nebraska
Kansas
Indiana
Idaho
48
46
43
40
31
31
28
Utah
U.S. Military
Virginia
Colorado
Montana
South Dakota
New Hampshire
Wyoming
TOTAL
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Web Site [June 11, 2020]
RPrRPePNWW AN
2,620
NUMBER OF EXECUTIONS
SINCE 1976: 1518
'76'77'78'79'80'81 '82'83'84 '85'86 87 '88'89'90'91 '92'93'94'95'96'97'98'99'00'01'02'03'04'05'06'07'08'09'10'11'12'13'14'15'16'17'18'19'20
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Web Site [June 11, 2020]
Death Sentences 1973 - 2019
3 Year Trend 5 Year Trend
0 1973 1975
1980 1985
990 1995 2000 2005 2010
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Web Site [June 1, 2020]
2015
2019
22 States have abolished
the death penalty
Michigan 1846 lowa 1965 Illinois 2011
Wisconsin 1853 West Virginia 1965 Connecticut 2012
Maine 1887 North Dakota 1973 Maryland 2013
Minnesota | 1911 Massachusetts 1984 Delaware 2016
Alaska 1957 Rhode Island 1984 Washington 2018
Hawaii 1957 New Jersey 2007 New Hampshire 2019
Vermont 1964 New York 2007 Colorado 2020
New Mexico 2009
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Web Site [June 1, 2020].
12 more states have had no
executions in the past ten years
California 2006 Nevada 2006
Indiana 2009 North Carolina 2006
Kansas 1965 Oregon 1997
Kentucky 2008 Pennsylvania 1999
Louisiana 2010 Utah 1997
Montana 2006 Wyoming 1992
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Web Site [June 1, 2020].
Virginia & the Death Penalty
° Virginia has executed 113
people since 1976, second
most in the United States.
¢ Virginia executes the highest percentage of
those sentenced to death (75%) in the U.S.
¢ Virginia is fastest in the nation from
sentencing to execution (6.2 years on
average).
In Virginia it’s easier to take
a person's liberty or life
than their property:
¢ In civil lawsuits, both sides must turn over
virtually everything to the opponent and sit
for pretrial depositions.
Criminal defendants are not entitled to
the police reports in their case, the
witness statements against them or even
a witness list.
Virginia Executions Since 1976
by Local Jurisdiction
Number of Executions
1976-2018
[Jo MMs
: is
2: =
lr
ma:
sowie
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center web site [March 1, 2019]
There are 18 Virginia jurisdictions
that have never had an execution.
COUNTIES: CITIES: CITIES:
Dickenson County Emporia Manassas
Floyd County Falls Church Manassas Park
Franklin Norton
INDEPENDENT Fredericksburg Poquoson
CITIES: Galax Salem
Colonial Heights Harrisonburg Suffolk
Covington Lexington Waynesboro
SOURCES:
Death Penalty Information Center
<https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/views-executions>
Death Penalty USA, Virginia Executions 1901-1962
<https://deathpenaltyusa.org/usa1/state/virginiaS5.htm>
There are 32 more Virginia jurisdictions
with no execution in 100+ years.
Amelia County Greensville County Rockingham County
Bath County Hanover County Russell County
Buckingham County Highland County Shenandoah County
Carroll County King & Queen County Stafford County
Charlotte County Lancaster County Sussex County
Clarke County Louisa County Tazewell County
Craig County Mathews County Westmoreland Co
Cumberland County New Kent County Wythe County
Essex County Northumberland Co
Giles County Pulaski County Bristol city
Grayson County Rappahannock Co Buena Vista city
SOURCES:
Death Penalty Information Center
<https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/views-executions>
Death Penalty USA, Virginia Executions 1901-1962
<https://deathpenaltyusa.org/usa1/state/virginiaS5.htm>
Death Penalty
Disparities in Virginia:
65% of the 133 political jurisdictions in the
Commonwealth have NOT had an execution since 1976.
¢ Three jurisdictions [Chesterfield, Prince William, &
Virginia Beach] are responsible for 23% of executions.
¢ Seven jurisdictions [Chesterfield, Fairfax, Hampton,
Pittsylvania, Portsmouth, Prince William, & Virginia
Beach] account for 41% of the state’s executions.
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center Web Site [May 19, 2016].
The Problem of Innocence
Lee © Since 1973, 169 people have
; been released from death row
with evidence of their innocence.
¢ Many others have been executed
while serious doubts have been
raised regarding their verdict.
¢ Since 1976, there is a ratio of one
7 al innocent person freed from
So death row for every 9 executions!
I C INFORMATION CENTER
Earl Washington
CO) Wrongfully convicted of
murder and rape in 1984
Sentence was commuted
to life in prison 9 days
before his scheduled
execution in 1994
Granted an absolute
pardon on October 2,
2000
VIRGINIANS FOR
¢ ALTERNATIVES
TO THE DEATH PENALTY
18 people convicted of murder in Virginia
have been exonerated since 1989
On March 6, 1986, a jury in Newport News convicted
me of murder, robbery, burglary and rape. | was
sentenced to life in prison.
The key evidence against me was a coerced witness
identification and testimony by two forensic
experts who said that | was the only person who
could have left the bite mark on the rape victim.
In 2015, DNA tests excluded me as the source of the biological evidence.
An investigation showed that the lab analyst eliminated me as the
source of the evidence. The analyst’s bench notes of his testing
excluded me. Those notes were never given to my defense attorney.
— Keith Harward
18 people convicted of murder in Virginia
have been exonerated since 1989
Beverly
Monroe
Michael
> Hash
Collateral Damage
Human cost of the death penalty
Few people consider the impact of capital punishment on
a wide range of people who are part of the system:
— Victim family members
Prosecutors
Defense attorneys
Judges and jurors
Family members of death row inmates
Wardens and corrections officers
Executioners
Daughter of a slain sheriff’s deputy
For ten years I was plagued by the uncertainty
around the trial and appeals, repeatedly
forced to relive the worst day of my life.
| have experienced the death penalty to be an
ineffective, outdated punishment. The
execution brought no solace to me, but,
instead, it strengthened my resolve that the
death penalty needs to be abolished.
It is time for the death penalty to be abolished
in order to better care for the victim’s family
members, to better serve the public good,
and to protect human life.
— Rachel Sutphin
Other Virginia murder victim fa
Neva Herrington Dave Knight & his Ryan Nixon
late brother Jamie
Former Virginia Executioner, Jerry Givens
| worked as a prison guard saving lives most of
the time. But when | took on the role of
executioner, | had to become a Killer. ...
The Earl Washington case [who was exonerated
by DNA evidence in 1993] shook my faith in
the justice system. | came within days of
putting an innocent man to death.
| still wonder whether there were any innocents among the 62 that |
executed. The only thing | can do is pray to God to forgive me if | did.
— “Ex-Virginia executioner becomes opponent of death
penalty,” Washington Post (February 10, 2013)
David Bruck Kristina Leslie
Meghan Shapiro Jerry Zerkin Elizabeth Peiffer
Former Attorney General
Opposes the Death Penalty
“| supported the death penalty for all of my
public life — as a Virginia State Senator, Attorney
General, and Republican candidate for governor.
Today, | can still make a conceptual argument as
to why it should be a tool in the arsenal of a
prosecutor — but it is just an argument. And, to
me, the argument is tired, strained, and no
longer defensible.”
— Mark Earley, a Republican former Virginia
Attorney General who oversaw 36 executions
Conservative Republican State Senator
Opposes the Death Penalty
“We do not have the power
our Creator has to take life.
We do not have the ability,
morally, legally or otherwise.’
— Sen. Bill Stanley, a Republican state
legislator who represents southside
Virginia
yi
A New Era in Virginia
“+ Virginia used to sentence 5-10 people to death and
execute as many as 14 people in one year.
= Only four executions in the past five years.
=" No new death sentence in over 9 years.
“* The last death sentence was in March 2011.
=" There have been nearly 3,000 murders in Virginia
since then.
= No jury has imposed a death sentence in any of
those cases.
Virginians for Alternatives
to the Death Penalty
http://www.vadp.org/
Pr 0%
VIRGINIANS FOR
ALTERNATIVES
TO THE DEATH PENALTY
Ending the Death
Penalty through
Education,
Organizing &
Advocacy
