THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 28, 1995 TAG: 9508260015
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
The state of Virginia has been instructed in unusually blunt terms to wait until a condemned prisoner's appeals are through before setting an execution date.
The 4th U.S. Court of Appeals on Monday granted death-row inmate Dennis Stockton a temporary stay of execution until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on his final appeal.
And in a letter sent Monday to the state attorney general's office and Stockton's lawyers, the clerk of the appeals court, Bert M. Montague, wrote:
``The court notes that this is at least the second case in which it appears to the court that the Attorney General of Virginia and attorneys for defendants seem to be manipulating and maneuvering around execution dates. I have been directed by the court to specifically inform counsel that the court does not appreciate such actions. I draw your attention to the specific language of the order which provides that the Attorney General's Office should not seek the setting of an execution date until the Supreme Court has ruled....''
That order followed this sequence of events:
(1) The state petitioned the court to set Stockton's execution date for Sept. 14, a dozen days before the U.S. Supreme Court was scheduled to review his appeal.
(2) Late last month, a Circuit Court judge in Patrick County set Stockton's execution date for Sept. 27, the day after the supreme court was to review his appeal. (That date would have caused a time bind for the governor, who is not supposed to consider clemency until after a final court ruling.)
Now the U.S. appeals court has told the state to hold its horses until Stockton's appeals have run out.
Stockton has been on death row too long already - 12 years. Most would agree that the appeals process for condemned men is far too slow.
Nonetheless the state is obliged to wait until the appeals are done before setting execution dates.
It's remarkable that the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found it necessary to remind Virginia's law enforcers that they must play by the rules. by CNB