Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 4, 1995 TAG: 9510040050
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Allen acted ``based on verified information regarding a health emergency'' in the family of an attorney handling Barnes' appeal, said Ken Stroupe, the governor's press secretary.
Allen's action put off the Thursday night execution until at least Nov. 13. But Barnes' attorneys plan to file a Supreme Court appeal by Oct. 23, and the high court could further delay the execution until it reviews the case.
Barnes, 31, of Philadelphia, was the first of five Virginia death row inmates who were to be put to death this month. Dennis Stockton, convicted of the murder-for-hire of a North Carolina man in a soured drug deal, was put to death last week.
Barnes was convicted at a non-jury trial of killing Clyde D. Jenkins, a 73-year-old grocery store owner, and clerk Mohammad Afifi during a robbery attempt in June 1985.
Barnes admitted that he was involved in the crime but said an accomplice fired the shots that killed the victims.
In January 1994, U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer in Richmond overturned Barnes' death sentence, ruling that prosecutors suppressed evidence at his trial. The evidence: A gun was found under Jenkins' body.
Prosecutors argued that Barnes never indicated he thought Jenkins was armed. But Spencer said Barnes' trial lawyer could have used the information during sentencing to argue that his client was confronted with an armed man, not a helpless one.
``The presence of a weapon on a murder victim, even if its presence is not known by the killer, is far from irrelevant,'' Spencer said.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated Barnes' death sentence earlier this year.
by CNB