Opinion ID: 1059140
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Powell's First Trial and Appeal

Text: Powell was originally convicted of the capital murder of Stacey Lynn Reed in 2000 and sentenced to death. See Powell v. Commonwealth, 261 Va. 512, 530, 552 S.E.2d 344, 354 (2001). In the same trial, Powell was convicted of the abduction, rape, and attempted capital murder of Stacey's younger sister, Kristie Erin Reed, and was sentenced to three terms of life imprisonment and fines totaling $200,000 for those crimes. [1] Id. Upon review of the capital murder conviction and the death sentence imposed upon Powell, this Court reversed the conviction on various grounds including a finding that the indictment charging Powell with capital murder in the commission of robbery and/or attempted robbery had been improperly amended to include a charge of capital murder during the commission of or subsequent to rape and/or attempted rape and/or sodomy and/or attempted sodomy. [2] Id. at 532, 552 S.E.2d at 355-56. Upon review of the record, we further held that the wording of the indictment limited the Commonwealth to proving that the gradation crime was a rape occurring before or during the killing, id. at 538-39, 552 S.E.2d at 359, and there was no evidence upon which the jury could have found that Powell committed the rape of Kristie before or during the murder of Stacey. Id. at 541, 535 S.E.2d at 361. We summarized the consequence of these holdings in the conclusion of the opinion, stating: there is simply no evidence upon which the jury could have relied to find that Powell committed or attempted to commit any sexual assault against Stacey before or during her murder, or that the rape of Kristie did not occur after the murder of her sister. Accordingly, under the circumstances of this case, the evidence at best would have supported a conviction for first degree murder. For these reasons, we will reverse Powell's conviction for capital murder . . . and remand the case for a new trial on a charge of no greater than first degree murder for the killing of Stacey Reed, if the Commonwealth be so advised. Id. at 545-46, 552 S.E.2d at 363 The mandate from this Court to the trial court tracked the language of the opinion, and directed that the case is remanded . . . for a new trial on a charge of no greater than first degree murder for the killing of Stacey Reed, if the Commonwealth be so advised.