THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 25, 1996 TAG: 9607250419
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 62 lines
The author of the book that inspired the Academy-Award winning movie ``Dead Man Walking'' issued an appeal to Virginia officials Wednesday, saying they are planning to execute a man who could be innocent.
Sister Helen Prejean held a news conference in the state capital on behalf of Joseph R. O'Dell III, who was convicted in 1986 of killing a woman outside a Virginia Beach nightspot.
O'Dell's supporters have DNA tests that they say exonerate the Roanoke native, but courts have refused to consider them because of Virginia's 21-day deadline for offering new evidence after a conviction.
``If Mr. O'Dell's jury had heard what you are hearing today, would they have found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt . . . much less sentenced him to death?'' Prejean asked.
Prosecutors dispute claims that the DNA evidence proves O'Dell's innocence, but Prejean said that question should be decided by the courts.
``Mr. O'Dell has a terrible problem,'' she said. ``The state of Virginia is intent on executing him even if newly surfaced evidence indicates that he may be innocent.''
A nun who lives in New Orleans, Prejean wrote an account of the executions of two inmates. The movie version of the book, with Prejean portrayed by actress Susan Sarandon in an Oscar-winning role, told the story of one of those executions.
Since the book's publication, Prejean has toured the country denouncing the death penalty, sometimes for specific inmates like O'Dell.
``I decided to raise my voice and use whatever type of celebrity I have to make people aware of the death penalty and how it is so often carried out,'' she said during a meeting with reporters at the downtown Commonwealth Park Suites Hotel.
``There's general distrust of the government's ability to fill potholes. And we're talking about killing people.''
Attorneys, investigators and friends of O'Dell say they have several pieces of evidence, gathered since his conviction, which cast doubt on his conviction. They include:
DNA tests showing that blood found on O'Dell's clothes was not that of his victim, 44-year-old Helen C. Schartner. Prosecutors say other DNA tests produce a match, but O'Dell challenges the validity of those tests.
A statement from one of O'Dell's jurors saying the DNA evidence would have created enough doubt for an acquittal.
Purported evidence that a jailhouse snitch who helped convict O'Dell did so as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Prejean said she has talked with O'Dell over the phone and reviewed his case, but claimed no expert knowledge of the new evidence.
``What matters is that the courts see it,'' said Prejean, who will return to Virginia in September to speak at a Richmond church and participate in an anti-death penalty march.
``I used to love the bumper sticker `Virginia is for Lovers.' What about Virginia lovers of the Constitution, and Virginia lovers of the Bill of Rights?'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Joseph R. O'Dell III disputes DNA evidence linking him to the 1986
killing.
KEYWORDS: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT by CNB