Also, it includes no new provisions to protect the accused from incompetent defense attorneys. Robert T. Hall, one of the appellate lawyers who helped win Washington's pardon, said that nothing in the bill would have prevented him from being executed. Hall said that DNA evidence has played a role in freeing only a few of the dozens of death row inmates exonerated over the years. The Virginia Supreme Court also is considering its own changes to expand the rights of death row inmates to make appeals after the 21-day deadline. And the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission is studying Virginia's death penalty laws and their application in a report that lawmakers expect this year.
Some lawmakers favor a moratorium until that report is done.
But that proposal, SB 1135, died tonight in a 9 to 5 committee vote. Similar bills failed in the House Courts of Justice Committee last week. The bill passed on a voice vote. A final House vote is scheduled for Monday. The Senate passed a similar bill last week.