ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 7, 1996 TAG: 9603070061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITER RICHMOND
The state Senate voted Wednesday to add serial killing to the list of crimes punishable by death. That was nothing new.
And Roanoke Sen. John Edwards cast a vote in favor of the plan after changes were made that satisfied his technical objections. A
The freshman Democrat had turned some heads with an earlier vote against a similar death penalty bill, which put him in the same company with some of the legislature's more devout liberals. Several of Edwards' votes against high-profile issues this year have prompted some Republicans to brand him a leftist.
But as with many of his other nays, Edwards argued that he originally voted against the death-penalty measure for purely technical reasons: He thought it was vague, misleading and possibly unconstitutional.
Wednesday's vote in favor of a cleaned-up version reflects his true feelings about the death penalty, Edwards said.
"I'm not against capital punishment," Edwards said during an afternoon recess. "I think it's appropriate for us to deal with capital punishment this way, and I think it reflects my intentions."
Edwards' defiant style could pay off another way in the legislature's final days: He's being considered for a seat on the joint committee that will complete plans to reform Virginia's juvenile justice system, a marquee issue this year.
Those committees historically include opponents, and Edwards was among the few members who opposed the plan. The committee could be named today.
The bill that passed 38-2 Wednesday combined several plans advanced this year to augment the death penalty, making murder of witnesses and murder during an abduction death-penalty crimes. It also would make murdering two or more people a capital offense, erasing a loophole that says the crimes must occur at the same time.
"This would deal with the Ted Bundys of the world. I think that's important."
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Edwards KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB