Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/va-supreme-court/1138688.html
Timestamp: 2019-09-20 23:36:54
Document Index: 392945933

Matched Legal Cases: ['§\u200217', '§\u200218', '§\u200218', '§\u200218', '§\u200218', '§\u200218', '§\u200218', '§\u200218', '§\u200217', '§\u200219', '§\u200219', '§\u200219', '§\u200219', '§\u200219']

LEWIS v. COMMONWEALTH | FindLaw
Teresa Wilson Bean LEWIS v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.
Record No. 032153.
Present: All the Justices. Thomas Blaylock, Roanoke (David A. Furrow, Rocky Mount; Allen W. Dudley, Jr.; Furrow & Dudley, on briefs), for appellant. Katherine P. Baldwin, Senior Assistant Attorney General (Jerry W. Kilgore, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.
As required by Code § 17.1-313, we review the sentences of death imposed upon Teresa Wilson Bean Lewis.
On November 20, 2002, the defendant was indicted by a grand jury for the following offenses: capital murder for hire of Charles J. Lewis in violation of Code § 18.2-31(2); capital murder for hire of Julian Clifton Lewis, Jr., in violation of Code §§ 18.2-31(2); conspiracy to commit capital murder in violation of Code §§ 18.2-22 and -31; robbery of Julian Clifton Lewis, Jr., in violation of Code § 18.2-58; use of a firearm to commit the murder of Julian Clifton Lewis, Jr., in violation of Code § 18.2-53.1; use of a firearm to commit the murder of Charles J. Lewis in violation of Code § 18.2-53.1; and use of a firearm to commit the robbery of Julian Clifton Lewis, Jr., in violation of Code § 18.2-53.1.
On that same date, the defendant told Shallenberger and Fuller the route that Julian Lewis traveled from his place of employment to his home. The men planned to kill Julian Lewis and “make the murder ․ look like a robbery.” While the defendant remained at her home, the men were “to follow and stop Julian Lewis on the highway and kill him.” The plan, however, was unsuccessful.
Investigator Barrett asked the defendant what she and her husband did before they went to bed on the night of the murders. She said that she talked with her husband, and that they prayed together. She told her husband that she was going to pack his lunch, and he went to sleep. She prepared a lunch and placed it in the refrigerator. She wrote a note on the lunch bag that stated, “I love you. I hope you have a good day.” A picture of a “smiley face” was drawn on the bag and inscribed in the “smiley face” was the message, “I miss you when you're gone.”
Mike Campbell, Lewis' supervisor, testified that Julian Lewis did not use bags to bring his lunch to work. Rather, Julian Lewis took his lunch to work in a blue and white cooler.
Code § 17.1-313(C)(2) requires that this Court consider and determine “[w]hether the sentence[s] of death [are] excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases, considering both the crime and the defendant.” The test of proportionality that we apply is whether “juries in this jurisdiction generally approve the supreme penalty for comparable or similar crimes.” Wolfe v. Commonwealth, 265 Va. 193, 226, 576 S.E.2d 471, 490, cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1019, 124 S.Ct. 566, 157 L.Ed.2d 434 (2003) (quoting Hedrick v. Commonwealth, 257 Va. 328, 342, 513 S.E.2d 634, 642, cert. denied, 528 U.S. 952, 120 S.Ct. 376, 145 L.Ed.2d 294 (1999)); Murphy v. Commonwealth, 246 Va. 136, 145, 431 S.E.2d 48, 54, cert. denied, 510 U.S. 928, 114 S.Ct. 336, 126 L.Ed.2d 281 (1993).
In conducting this review, this Court considers the records of all capital murder cases reviewed by this Court, including cases in which the defendant received a life sentence. In conducting the proportionality review, it is not the function of this Court to understand why the trier of fact imposed the sentence of life instead of the sentence of death. Rather, “[t]he purpose of our comparative review is to reach a reasoned judgment regarding what cases justify the imposition of the death penalty. We cannot insure complete symmetry among all death penalty cases, but our review does enable us to identify and invalidate a death sentence that is ‘excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases.’ ” Orbe v. Commonwealth, 258 Va. 390, 405, 519 S.E.2d 808, 817 (1999), cert. denied, 529 U.S. 1113, 120 S.Ct. 1970, 146 L.Ed.2d 800 (2000). Simply stated, this Court's proportionality review enables this Court to identify and invalidate the aberrant sentence of death. And, we emphasize that in making the determination whether a sentence of death is aberrant, this Court must consider the penalty imposed in similar cases, considering both the crime and the defendant.
Code § 19.2-264.2 states:
We have stated that “depravity of mind” as used in Code § 19.2-264.2, is “a degree of moral turpitude and psychical debasement surpassing that inherent in the definition of ordinary legal malice and premeditation.” Stewart v. Commonwealth, 245 Va. 222, 245, 427 S.E.2d 394, 409, cert. denied, 510 U.S. 848, 114 S.Ct. 143, 126 L.Ed.2d 105 (1993); Thomas, 244 Va. at 25, 419 S.E.2d at 619-20. We observed in Beck v. Commonwealth, 253 Va. 373, 387, 484 S.E.2d 898, 907, cert. denied, 522 U.S. 1018, 118 S.Ct. 608, 139 L.Ed.2d 495 (1997) that
“[a] finding of ‘vileness' must be based on conduct which is ‘outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture, depravity of mind or an aggravated battery to the victim.’ Code § 19.2-264.2. Proof of any one of these three components will support a finding of vileness. Id.; Mueller v. Commonwealth, 244 Va. 386, 411, 422 S.E.2d 380, 395 (1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 1043, 113 S.Ct. 1880, 123 L.Ed.2d 498 ․ (1993).”
Additionally, in Hedrick v. Commonwealth, 257 Va. at 339-40, 513 S.E.2d at 640, we stated that
“a mere inspection of the statutory language in [Code § 19.2-264.2] demonstrates clearly that the term ‘vileness' includes three separate and distinct factors, with the proof of any one factor being sufficient to support a finding of vileness and hence a sentence of death. Bunch v. Commonwealth, 225 Va. 423, 442, 304 S.E.2d 271, 282 [1983] ․ We have also stated that ‘Code §§ 19.2-264.2 and-264.4(C) define vileness as conduct that involves torture, depravity of mind, or aggravated battery to the victim; the use of the disjunctive word ‘or,’ rather than the conjunctive ‘and,’ signifies the availability of alternative choices.' ”
We have considered all the defendant's remaining arguments, and they are without merit. Having reviewed the sentences of death, finding no reversible error in the record, and perceiving no reason to commute the death sentences, we will affirm the judgment of the circuit court.