THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 7, 1996 TAG: 9609070216
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 44 lines
Former death row inmate Joseph M. Giarratano has been flown by state jet to a prison in Utah for his protection, officials said.
Giarratano was flown out of Virginia Wednesday. He was stabbed by another inmate at the Buckingham Correctional Center in July, and officials said he was still concerned about his safety.
But one of his lawyers claims Giarratano was moved against his will.
Gerald T. Zerkin, a Richmond lawyer who helped win Giarratano's 1991 execution reprieve, said his client fought the transfer with a lawsuit. ``It was absolutely not his idea; he did not want to go,'' said Zerkin.
``He's a lightning rod for attention. He's a symbol. What better thing than to pack him off to Utah?'' Zerkin said.
Giarratano earned a reputation both while on death row and afterward as a skilled jailhouse lawyer who helped other inmates.
David Botkins, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Corrections, said Giarratano had many enemies in Virginia's 25,000-inmate system. ``It's difficult to speculate on these things, but he's a high-profile inmate and has brought a lot of attention to himself.
``Based on information provided by the convict himself, he considered his life to be in danger,'' Botkins said. ``We concurred, and felt it best for his safety that he be transferred out of state.''
Jack Ford, a spokesman for the Utah Department of Corrections, said Thursday that Giarratano will spend the next four to five weeks going through a receiving and orientation program before he is assigned to a permanent prison.
Giarratano was sentenced to die for the 1979 rape and strangulation of 15-year-old Michelle Kline in Norfolk. He also was convicted of murder in the stabbing death of the teen-ager's mother, Barbara Kline, 44.
Giarratano came within three days of being executed in February 1991 before Gov. L. Douglas Wilder granted him a conditional pardon, commuted his death sentence and suggested a new trial.
Former Attorney General Mary Sue Terry concluded that a new trial was not in order. Giarratano will be eligible for discretionary parole in 2004.
Botkins said security officers accompanied Giarratano on a flight that left Richmond on Wednesday evening. by CNB