Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 6, 1995 TAG: 9506060114
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``There are only two possible punishments for capital murder, life or death, and the commonwealth feels that we have good evidence to support a sentence of death,'' Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom said.
Branscom made his comments after a hearing in which Roanoke Circuit Judge Clifford Weckstein rejected a motion that sought to prohibit the use of the death sentence for Robert Michael May.
May, 27, is accused of fatally shooting three men and two women during a party Jan. 1 at an Old Southwest carriage house. He has told police he started shooting after a gun was pulled on him during an argument over which branch of the military, the Navy or Marines, was tougher.
May told police he shot the three men in self-defense, according to earlier testimony, and that he shot the women because they were witnesses.
Since May was charged with capital and first-degree murder in February, prosecutors have been tight-lipped about whether they will seek the death penalty. But ``all indications are that they will,'' Assistant Public Defender Roger Dalton said.
Dalton and Public Defender Ray Leven were in court Monday to ask Weckstein to declare the death sentence in Virginia unconstitutional - a motion that was not expected to be granted, but was required to preserve the arguments for future appeal.
``If these arguments are to make any headway, it will probably be in the appellate courts,'' Dalton said.
In outlining a 72-page motion attacking Virginia's death sentence law, Dalton touched on such points as: that juries are not informed of what weight to give mitigating factors; that legal terms such as ``vileness'' are unconstitutionally vague; that prosecutors in the sentencing phase can introduce evidence of criminal acts in which no charges were filed; and that the appeals process in capital cases is inadequate.
``To impose the death sentence based on a scheme with this many flaws ... would certainly be repugnant,'' Dalton argued.
Weckstein overruled the motion, noting that the points raised by May's attorneys already have been decided on appeal in cases upholding the death sentence.
As May's June 19 trial date approaches, his attorneys still are awaiting the results of a psychiatric evaluation of their client that was ordered at a hearing last month.
If the evaluation finds that May was insane at the time of the offense, the trial would have to be delayed to allow for an insanity plea. Otherwise, the psychiatric evidence could be used during sentencing, when a judge or jury must determine if the defendant is a danger to society.
May is charged with committing the worst mass killing in Roanoke since 1973, when a man killed his family of five before committing suicide.
Just three hours into the New Year, city police responded to a report of gunfire on 41/2 Street Southwest. Found shot to death in the upstairs apartment were Susan Hutchinson, 44; her boyfriend, Dale Arnold, 36; and three of their party guests - Cynthia Laprade, 43; her boyfriend, Daniel Mason, 47; and Carl Stroop, 42.
May, an alcoholic house painter who lived next door, later told police that he was invited into the party shortly after midnight and began drinking heavily after a period of sobriety.
Although May told police that one of the men pulled a gun on him during their argument, authorities have said they found no evidence of a second weapon.
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