* Legislature to consider ending juvenile death penalty

By LARRY O’DELLAssociated Press WriterRICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Encouraged by a jury’s decision to spare the life of teenage sniper Lee Boyd Malvo, death penalty opponents will urge the Virginia General Assembly to abolish capital punishment for juveniles. More ambitious proposals to end the death penalty altogether have failed in recent years, but activists believe even conservative lawmakers can be persuaded to allow juvenile killers to live. Jack Payden-Travers, executive director of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said legislators can take their cue from Virginia juries that have become increasingly loath to sentence juveniles to death. “The Malvo trial was sort of the bellwether that said this practice is over in Virginia,” Payden-Travers said. Malvo was sentenced last March to life in prison for the shooting death of FBI analyst Linda Franklin in Falls Church. Franklin was one of 10 people killed by Malvo and John Allen Muhammad in an October 2002 sniper shooting spree. Malvo was 17 at the time of the killings. Del. Vivian Watts, D-Fairfax, agreed that the Malvo case gives death penalty opponents a powerful argument: People don’t want to put youngsters to death for even the most egregious crimes. “There is a shift in public attitude,” Watts said. Nevertheless, neither she nor Del. Vincent F. Callahan Jr., who will introduce the measure, are optimistic about the bill’s chances in this session. “I think the chances are probably slim, but I don’t think as a society we should be executing children,” said Callahan, R-Fairfax. “I am not opposed to the death penalty, but my God, what have we come to?” Activists hope that point will resonate with other lawmakers, and they have formed the Virginia Alliance to End the Juvenile Death Penalty to conduct an all-out lobbying effort. Among the organizations in the coalition are the Virginia Council of Churches, the NAACP, the National Association of Social Workers and Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation. Del. Robert F. McDonnell, R-Virginia Beach and chairman of the House Courts of Justice Committee, said the panel will listen carefully to the arguments. “In a civilized society there’s probably a place for an ongoing dialogue about that issue and whether it’s fair and just and consistent with good public policy to execute people under age 18,” he said. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule next year on the constitutionality of executing juveniles, and Virginia lawmakers historically have been reluctant to pass laws on issues pending in court. Payden-Travers said there is no valid reason to wait. “Our feeling is Virginia legislators need to be in the forefront,” he said, citing “evolving standards of justice” that have made juvenile executions increasingly rare. Payden-Travers said 17 states allow such executions, but in the last decade only Virginia and Texas have executed more than one person who was under age 18 when the crime was committed. Virginia has executed three and has one more on death row. Activists also will try to sway Virginia lawmakers with scientific arguments. Payden-Travers said recent studies have shown that the frontal lobe of the brain, the impulse control center, does not fully develop until age 21 or 22. McDonnell said some members of his committee might be influenced by new clinical evidence, but “at this point probably the majority feels that if a person within a couple of years of being an adult commits a heinous crime, he should be eligible for the death penalty.” Other public safety issues to be considered in the 2005 General Assembly include tougher punishment for gang violence and manufacturing methamphetamine _ items high on Attorney General Jerry Kilgore’s legislative agenda. Also expected is a renewed effort to make it easier for convicted felons to bring newly discovered, nonbiological evidence of actual innocence to the Virginia Court of Appeals. A law passed last year eliminated Virginia’s “21-day rule,” which required new evidence to be presented no later than three weeks after sentencing. However, only felons who pleaded innocent at trial can use the new process _ and they are limited to just one try. Critics say the law is still too restrictive. Only 16 inmates have filed petitions in the last six months, and none has succeeded, according to a Virginia Crime Commission report issued in December. “The writ of innocence law has a real purpose _ to get wrongly convicted people out of prison _ but it will not serve that purpose if wrongly convicted people don’t qualify to use it,” said Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Virginia. Measures to toughen penalties for a variety of crimes also are expected as House members look ahead to the fall elections. “Everybody wants to be tough on crime in an election year,” said McDonnell, who is seeking the GOP nomination for attorney general.