ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 17, 1996 TAG: 9612170078
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
An appeal by Pope John Paul II to spare the life of death row inmate Joseph Roger O'Dell III will have little to do with whether the execution is carried out, Gov. George Allen said Monday.
Allen also said he hasn't decided whether to grant clemency to O'Dell, whose execution is scheduled for Wednesday. O'Dell was convicted of the February 1985 rape and murder of Helen Schartner of Virginia Beach.
``I don't know if the Pope has read the court opinions, the 4th Circuit [Court of Appeals] opinions, read the record of Mr. O'Dell, read about the evidence in this case - maybe he has. Because that's what I'm making my decision based upon, the evidence in the case,'' Allen said at a news conference.
The governor said he had respect and deference for the pontiff's position on any position. But on the issue of clemency, ``I give just as much attention to somebody who doesn't have the pope writing in for him as somebody who does have the pope writing in,'' Allen said.
After concluding the news conference, Allen returned briefly, calling reporters back to elaborate on the time he takes to consider executions.
``I don't want you to get the impression that it is a burden placed on me by anyone other than myself. In making these decisions, I want to get all the information I possibly can get, so I when I do make a final decision I can do so in good conscience,'' Allen said.
Allen said he's not concerned with Virginia's reputation for exercising the death penalty. O'Dell is the fifth of five death row inmates slated for execution this month.
``The message is that Virginia is enforcing the law. Those who commit violent, pre-meditated, heinously vile murders can receive the death penalty,'' he said. ``And though I'm for the death penalty, this is not a pleasurable sort of thing.''
Reached later by telephone, Bishop Walter Sullivan of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond said the pope is speaking as a moral voice against O'Dell's planned execution.
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