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Death Penalty Bills
HB 45 – Juvenile Death Penalty Abolished
Patron: Del. Vincent F. Callahan, Jr.
Summary as introduced:
Elimination of capital punishment for minors. Restricts the death penalty to those who are 18 years of age or older at the time of the capital offense. Currently, the age is 16 or older at the time of the offense.
HB 188 – Jury Instructions
Patron: Del. Robert G. Marshall
Summary as introduced:
Sentencing; death sentence. Requires in sentencing capital cases at the request of the defendant, a jury shall be instructed that an individual who was sentenced to death in the Commonwealth and twice scheduled to be executed was later granted an absolute pardon absolving him of guilt for a capital murder conviction on the basis of DNA testing, and that eyewitness identifications have been shown in many cases to be inaccurate and highly susceptible to suggestion, in addition to the requirement under current law that the jury be told that a defendant is not eligible for parole if sentenced to imprisonment for life.
HB 859 – Abolition of the Death Penalty
Patron: Del. Frank D. Hargrove, Sr.
Summary as introduced:
Crimes; death penalty. Abolishes the death penalty for all Class 1 felonies committed on or after July 1, 2006.
SB 17 – Moratorium on the Death Penalty
Patron: Sen. Henry L. Marsh, III
Summary as introduced:
Death penalty; moratorium on executions. Provides that the Commonwealth shall not conduct executions of prisoners sentenced to death. All other matters of law relating to the death penalty, such as bringing and trying capital charges, sentencing proceedings, appeals and habeas review are not affected by the bill.
SB 362 – Juvenile Death Penalty Abolished
Patron: Sen. Patricia S. Ticer
Summary as introduced:
Elimination of capital punishment for minors. Restricts the death penalty to those who are 18 years of age or older at the time of the capital offense. Currently, the age is 16 or older at the time of the offense. This change is being made in response to the case of Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. (2005), decided March 1, 2005, in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments forbid the execution of offenders who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime.
SB 552 – Destruction of Human Biological Evidence
Patron: Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle
Summary as introduced:
Destruction of human biological evidence; penalty. Makes it a Class 6 felony for a clerk of court or other public officer to intentionally destroy human biological evidence.
The Center is against the following bills because they expand the list of crimes considered capital offenses
HB 782 – Elimination of the Triggerman Rule
Patron: Del. C. Todd Gilbert & Sen. Mark D. Obenshain
Summary as introduced:
Elimination of the triggerman rule. Eliminates the "triggerman rule," which provides that only the actual perpetrator of a capital murder is eligible for the death penalty, and that accessories and principals in the second degree can only be punished with first degree murder.
HB 1018 – Killing a Judge is Capital Murder
Patron: Del. Robert Hurt
Summary as introduced:
Capital murder. Provides that the willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of a justice or judge of any Virginia court, when such killing is for the purpose of interfering with the performance of the judge's official duties or because of the judge's official duties, is capital murder.
HB 1311 – Capital Murder of a Witness
Patron: C. Todd Gilbert
Summary as introduced:
Capital murder of a person assisting in a criminal investigation; penalty. Adds to the list of offenses punishable as capital murder the willful, deliberate and premeditated killing of any person because he is assisting or previously assisted in a criminal investigation or prosecution.
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