Va.'s Lone Condemned Woman Can Pursue Federal Appeal
November 7, 2007 - 6:58pm
RICHMOND, Va. - The only woman on Virginia's death row was granted a stay of execution on Wednesday to allow time for federal appeals.
The ruling in the case of Teresa Lewis was expected after a circuit court on Monday scheduled the Nov. 15 execution.
Lewis pleaded guilty in 2002 to hiring two men to kill her husband and stepson in Pittsylvania County. She became the first woman on Virginia's death row since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. No woman has been executed in Virginia since 1912.
Lewis' attorney, James E. Rocap III of Washington, said he was pleased by the ruling and looks forward to arguing in federal court that "what happened to her was wrong and unfair and should not be subjected to the death penalty," he said.
He said he will file a petition in federal court on Feb. 5.
According to authorities, Lewis plotted the murders of Julian Clifton Lewis Jr. and his son, Charles J. Lewis, to collect life insurance money.
The two men Lewis hired to commit the murders are serving life sentences. Her daughter, who was 16 at the time, was sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy and accessory to murder because she knew about the plot but did not tell authorities.
Lewis lost an appeal with the Virginia Supreme Court in June, arguing that her trial lawyer violated her constitutional rights by failing to present evidence that could have spared her the death penalty. She contended in her petition that jurors should have been told that her low mental functioning, prescription drug addiction and dependent personality disorder made her incapable of masterminding the scheme.
The Supreme Court disagreed, noting that experts differed on the scope of Lewis' mental problems and drug addiction. The justices also said there was substantial evidence that Lewis, motivated by greed, meticulously planned the slayings.
The scheduled execution also may hit a snag while the U.S. Supreme Court reviews whether the lethal injection method most states use in administering capital punishment is cruel and unusual, based on a challenge from two inmates on death row in Kentucky. Virginia uses the same three-drug lethal injection cocktail as Kentucky.
Last month, the high court halted Virginia's execution of Christopher Scott Emmett, 36, while a Richmond-based federal appeals court takes another look at the case.
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RICHMOND, Va. - The only woman on Virginia's death row was granted a stay of execution on Wednesday to allow time for federal appeals.
The ruling in the case of Teresa Lewis was expected after a circuit court on Monday scheduled the Nov. 15 execution.
Lewis pleaded guilty in 2002 to hiring two men to kill her husband and stepson in Pittsylvania County. She became the first woman on Virginia's death row since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. No woman has been executed in Virginia since 1912.
Lewis' attorney, James E. Rocap III of Washington, said he was pleased by the ruling and looks forward to arguing in federal court that "what happened to her was wrong and unfair and should not be subjected to the death penalty," he said.
He said he will file a petition in federal court on Feb. 5.
According to authorities, Lewis plotted the murders of Julian Clifton Lewis Jr. and his son, Charles J. Lewis, to collect life insurance money.
The two men Lewis hired to commit the murders are serving life sentences. Her daughter, who was 16 at the time, was sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy and accessory to murder because she knew about the plot but did not tell authorities.
Lewis lost an appeal with the Virginia Supreme Court in June, arguing that her trial lawyer violated her constitutional rights by failing to present evidence that could have spared her the death penalty. She contended in her petition that jurors should have been told that her low mental functioning, prescription drug addiction and dependent personality disorder made her incapable of masterminding the scheme.
The Supreme Court disagreed, noting that experts differed on the scope of Lewis' mental problems and drug addiction. The justices also said there was substantial evidence that Lewis, motivated by greed, meticulously planned the slayings.
The scheduled execution also may hit a snag while the U.S. Supreme Court reviews whether the lethal injection method most states use in administering capital punishment is cruel and unusual, based on a challenge from two inmates on death row in Kentucky. Virginia uses the same three-drug lethal injection cocktail as Kentucky.
Last month, the high court halted Virginia's execution of Christopher Scott Emmett, 36, while a Richmond-based federal appeals court takes another look at the case.
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