THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 15, 1995 TAG: 9505130035
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Maddry
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
AS THE CLOCK ticks down on his execution, Dennis Stockton uses the minutes typing, always typing, in his small cell on death row.
The clacking of his typewriter keys can be heard down the cellblock corridor. The inked keys fly toward the platen, planting letters on the crisp, white paper as dark as the deep hollows containing his blue eyes.
He should type faster. His time is running out.
Unfortunately for Stockton, The Commonwealth of Virginia believes that error is preferable to delay.
No matter that the only witness linking him to a hired killing 12 years ago now contradicts his trial testimony - our state cannot be bothered with such trivial particulars. It intends to snuff out Stockton's life a few months from now, no matter what happened at the trial.
Error preferable to delay? A good rule of thumb for mail carriers at Christmas, perhaps. Or, possibly, for overnight delivery shippers. But when applied to those convicted of capital homicide, it is a supreme irony, mocking both justice and the sanctity of human life.
In 1983, a Patrick County jury convicted Stockton of murdering Kenneth Wayne Arnder, 18, of Mt. Airy, N.C., for money. Arnder's body, was found in 1978 in Surry County, N.C. He had been shot in the head, and his hands had been cut off.
The only witness linking Stockton to the hired killing was Randy G. Bowman, who took the stand in 1983 testifying that he heard Stockton accept $1,500 from another felon to kill Arnder over a soured drug deal. No murder weapon was found, and no physical evidence linked Stockton to the murder.
Stockton has proclaimed his innocence since arrest. Now, 12 years after he was sentenced to death for a contract murder, Bowman, whose statements formed the core of the state's case against him, has recanted. In an interview with Joe Jackson of The Virginian-Pilot, Bowman said he never heard Stockton agree to kill Arnder or accept money to kill him, contrary to his earlier testimony.
Anthony Giorno, the prosecutor in Stockton's trial, has said the case should be reinvestigated, although he is skeptical of Bowman's recanting of trial testimony.
``I don't think I could sleep at night if I thought someone was on death row because of perjured testimony,'' he said, in another Pilot story written by June Arney and Joe Jackson.
These recent events would be good news for Stockton in most jurisdictions. But not in Virginia. Virginia's preference for error over delay is expressed in its unique law, which requires that new evidence of innocence - no matter how compelling - be introduced within 21 days of conviction. No other state affords so little time for the introduction of new evidence after the case is tried. Had Bowman's recantation come 12 years ago, Stockton might reasonably expect a stay of execution.
As he sits typing in his cell at Mecklenburg Correctional Center, Stockton is praying that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear his case and find that he was denied due process under the U.S. Constitution. If not, his fate will be in the hands of Gov. George Allen.
Perhaps Bowman is lying. And perhaps Stockton is guilty of another crime if not this one. There's an outstanding warrant against him for a second murder (for which he was not tried because of his conviction for Ardner's slaying).
But if Stockton's case is not reinvestigated, or a pardon granted, he is on track to die from a lethal injection.
The 21-day limitation for introduction of new evidence is a travesty that turns justice upside down like an egg timer. It is time for people of conscience to speak out against it.
One can only pity those in authority who would allow Stockton to die without a thorough investigation into evidence pointing to his innocence. And the thought of meeting one's creator after failing to do so should cause the most callous to pause. . . and tremble. by CNB