ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 24, 1996 TAG: 9609240042
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
DEATH-PENALTY OPPONENTS are trying to erase a provision of Virginia law that limits introduction of new evidence after death sentences.
Anne Coleman's daughter was murdered exactly 11 years ago Sunday.
Los Angeles police never found the killer, but Coleman has not spent the years looking for revenge. She has become an ardent death-penalty opponent.
That kind of ability to put vengeance aside was highlighted by Sister Helen Prejean, the author of ``Dead Man Walking,'' who spoke Sunday at Richmond's Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.
``The system is corrupt, it is tainted, it is biased,'' Prejean told several hundred people.
``If we can hardly trust the government to collect taxes and fill potholes, how can we trust them to make these God-like decisions?''
Prejean's speech was part of a 15-day tour of Virginia by anti-death penalty activists including Coleman's group, Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation.
The tour was an effort to raise awareness about the 21-day rule - a provision in Virginia law that does not allow death row inmates to present new evidence more than 21 days after their convictions.
The activists pointed to the case of Joseph O'Dell. O'Dell was sentenced to die for the 1985 murder of a Virginia Beach secretary, but the activists contend new DNA evidence cast doubt on the verdict.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously reinstated O'Dell's death sentence Sept. 10.
``I want to single out his case,'' Prejean said. ``You don't have to kill this guy. At least look at the evidence. When Virginia kills him, Virginia kills part of all of us.''
Prejean, whose book was made into a 1995 Oscar-winning movie, accused politicians of using the death penalty to avoid dealing with causes of crime such as poverty and racism. She also said most Americans don't support capital punishment if given the alternative of sentencing violent criminals to very long prison terms.
Aba Gayle, 63, of Santa Rosa, Calif., has more reasons than most to support the death penalty. Her daughter Catherine was murdered in 1980.
After 12 years of grief and anger, she mailed a letter to San Quentin's death row, forgiving Douglas Mickey for killing her daughter.
``When I mailed that letter all that black ugly anger and rage, it just left me. In an instant it was gone,'' she said.
She now visits Mickey frequently and is fighting to prevent his execution.
Coleman also visits death row in her home state, Delaware.
``I've had three friends executed this year,'' she said. ``None of them should have been released from prison, but none of them should have been killed.''
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB