"Expansion of "triggerman rule" goes to Kaine," by Jim Nolan is in today's Richmond Times-Dispatch.
A bill that could expand application of the death penalty and a bill that would prohibit text messaging while driving are among notable measures that are heading to the governor after a busy day in the General Assembly.
For the second year in a row, lawmakers in the House of Delegates and the state Senate approved bills that would expand application of the death penalty in cases of capital murder.
And for the second year in a row, the measure is likely to be vetoed by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.
"His position hasn't changed," Kaine spokesman Gordon Hickey said yesterday.
House Bill 2358, sponsored by Del. C. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, would redefine the "triggerman rule" of Virginia criminal law, which currently holds that only the actual perpetrator of a capital murder is eligible for the death penalty.
The legislation, which yesterday cleared the Virginia Senate by a 23-14 vote, would allow accessories and principals in the second degree to be tried the same as the actual killer in cases involving murder for hire, terrorism and organized crime. Such participants would have to be shown to have the same intent to kill or be involved in planning the killing.
Last year, Kaine's veto of Gilbert's legislation was upheld in a close vote in the Senate.
"Virginia is already second in the nation in the number of executions we carry out," Kaine said at the time.
"While the nature of the offense targeted by this legislation is very serious, I do not believe that further expansion of the death penalty is necessary to protect human life."
"Fairfax Senator's Unlikely Stand," by Fredrick Kunkle is in Washington Post.
And once again the governor has pledged to veto it.
But the vote on Tuesday has cast a spotlight on an unlikely opponent of expanding the use of the death penalty: Sen. Ken Cuccinelli II, a conservative law-and-order Republican from Fairfax County who hopes to become attorney general.
Cuccinelli is a supporter of capital punishment and has backed other measures to expand its use, including a bill this year to broaden the definition of law enforcement officers whose killing could be punished by the death penalty. Under that bill, sponsored by Del. Brenda L. Pogge (R-York), the state could seek the death penalty for any person who killed an auxiliary police officer, auxiliary sheriff's deputy, a fire marshal or an assistant fire marshal with police powers.
But Cuccinelli was the only Republican senator to vote against eliminating the triggerman rule.
And:
Cuccinelli, who is a patent attorney, said juries could be too easily swayed by the heat of a capital prosecution, overlooking nuances of guilt to punish someone whose intent was perhaps ambiguous. "More than anything else, it will catch people in a robbery gone bad," Cuccinelli said.
Earlier coverage of this legislation is here.
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