Opinion ID: 1059329
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: evidence regarding execution procedure

Text: Bell contends that the circuit court's denial of his motion to conduct an evidentiary hearing regarding the Commonwealth's methods of execution violated his rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. He also contends that the court erred by refusing to prohibit death penalty proceedings because the imposition of the death penalty as currently applied in Virginia does not comport with evolving standards of decency. We have already ruled that execution of prisoners by electrocution does not violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Ramdass v. Commonwealth, 246 Va. 413, 419, 437 S.E.2d 566, 569 (1993), vacated in part on other grounds, 512 U.S. 1217, 114 S.Ct. 2701, 129 L.Ed.2d 830 (1994), cert. denied after remand, 514 U.S. 1085, 115 S.Ct. 1800, 131 L.Ed.2d 727 (1995); Stockton, 241 Va. at 215, 402 S.E.2d at 209-10; Martin v. Commonwealth, 221 Va. 436, 439, 271 S.E.2d 123, 125 (1980); Hart v. Commonwealth, 131 Va. 726, 743-44, 109 S.E. 582, 587 (1921). While this Court has not specifically determined whether execution by lethal injection likewise does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment, the basis of Bell's motion and the affidavit evidence he proffered in support of the motion allege that the Commonwealth's current procedures for administering a lethal injection as a means of execution pose substantial and unwarranted risks of subjecting a prisoner to extreme physical pain and suffering during the execution. This is the same type of allegation that this Court rejected when upholding the constitutionality of death by electrocution. See Martin, 221 Va. at 439, 271 S.E.2d at 125. See also Ramdass, 246 Va. at 419, 437 S.E.2d at 569. [11] Without more, we conclude that Bell was not entitled to an evidentiary hearing on this issue. See Dawson v. State, 274 Ga. 327, 554 S.E.2d 137, 144 (2001) (recognizing lethal injection as reflective of societal consensus that the `science of the present day' has provided a less painful, less barbarous means for taking the life of condemned prisoners). Furthermore, pursuant to the provisions of Code § 53.1-234, Bell has the right to choose whether his execution will be by lethal injection or by electrocution. Because Bell has that choice and we have already ruled that execution by electrocution is permissible under the Eighth Amendment, it would be an unnecessary adjudication of a constitutional issue to decide whether lethal injection violates the Eighth Amendment. See Bissell v. Commonwealth, 199 Va. 397, 400, 100 S.E.2d 1, 3 (1957). We decline to do so, and likewise cannot say that the circuit court erred in denying Bell's motion for an evidentiary hearing to decide the constitutionality of lethal injection as a method of execution. Thus, we find no error in the court's denial of Bell's motion.