ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 7, 1996 TAG: 9609090052
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
Former death-row inmate Joseph M. Giarratano has been flown by state jet to prison in Utah for his protection, officials said.
Giarratano was flown out of Virginia Wednesday. He was stabbed by another inmate at the Buckingham Correctional Center in July, and officials said he was still concerned about his safety.
But his lawyer claims Giarratano was moved against his will.
Gerald T. Zerkin, a Richmond lawyer who helped win Giarratano's 1991 execution reprieve, said his client fought the transfer with a lawsuit.
``He's a lightning rod for attention. He's a symbol. What better thing than to pack him off to Utah?'' Zerkin said.
Giarratano earned a reputation both while on death row and afterward as a skilled jailhouse lawyer who helped other inmates.
David Botkins, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Corrections, said Giarratano had many enemies in Virginia's 25,000-inmate system.
``Based on information provided by the convict himself, he considered his life to be in danger,'' Botkins said. ``We concurred, and felt it best for his safety that he be transferred out of state.''
Giarratano was sentenced to die for the 1979 rape and strangulation of 15-year-old Michelle Kline in Norfolk. He also was convicted of murder in the stabbing death of the teen-ager's mother, Barbara Kline.
- Associated Press
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