Court Opinion

ID: 9490294
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:39:12.992253+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:54:00.935278
License: Public Domain

WILKINSON, Chief Judge,
concurring:
I concur in Judge Butzner’s careful opinion. I agree that there is nothing novel about the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision in Pope’s case. I would note also that, although couched in due process terms, Pope’s real claim is that the Virginia Supreme Court misinterpreted the capital felony-murder statute in Virginia Code section 18.2-31(d). This is purely a state law question on which the Virginia Supreme Court has the final word, see Wainwright v. Goode, 464 U.S. 78, 84, 104 S.Ct. 378, 382, 78 L.Ed.2d 187 (1983), notwithstanding Pope’s attempt to affix a federal “due process” label to his argument.