Execution Set for Virginia Death Row Inmate Whose Evidence Was Destroyed

[NNN0LHI]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBYQDS41BE.html

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia prepared Monday to execute a man convicted of stabbing a pool hall manager to death with a pair of scissors, a case that has attracted national attention because the murder weapon and DNA evidence were destroyed after the trial.

Attorneys for Robin Lovitt, 41, sought a last-minute appeal from the U.S. Supreme Court and a request for clemency from Gov. Mark R. Warner. Among those fighting the execution are former independent counsel Kenneth Starr.

Lovitt's lawyers and opponents of capital punishment have argued that the conviction should be reviewed because of the questions surrounding the evidence.

"It boggles the mind that Virginia is even proceeding with this and that the governor hasn't intervened before now to stop it," said Jack Payden-Travers, executive director of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. "We are going to be the laughingstock of the justice system if Virginia proceeds with this execution."

Initial DNA tests of the bloody scissors could not conclusively link Lovitt to the 1998 slaying. A court clerk later destroyed most of the evidence, including the scissors, making additional DNA testing impossible.

[I Have A Dream]

1. Hopefully there really is such a thing as karma!

Un-bloody-believable!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. But since Warner has presidential aspirations, he will probably go

witness the execution so he can appear to be tough on crime.

[theHandpuppet]

6. Yep!

Warner has a LOT to prove to this lifelong Dem. I don't want another Repug-Lite as the democratic nominee.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

3. Faith-based sentencing.

[NNN0LHI]

5. Faith-based lawyering too. Ken Starr was one of Lovitt's lead attorneys

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32443-2005Mar13.html

Starr, in New Role, Gives Hope To a Needy Death Row Inmate
Jury Not Told All in Va. Slaying, Famed Lawyer Says

By Donna St. George
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 14, 2005; Page A01

Robin Lovitt was deep in the throes of a major relapse. He had sold his television for $20, he would later tell police, and used the money for beer and cigarettes. Then he bought two rocks of crack in what became a long night that ended in an Arlington pool hall on Nov. 18, 1998.

Across the Potomac River that day, Kenneth W. Starr was rehearsing a much-anticipated speech that would mark his first public testimony to explain the findings of his investigation of President Bill Clinton. Amid accusations that his four-year, $40 million probe had become a political witch hunt, Starr would make his case to the public, partly in his own defense.

The next morning, nine miles from the televised drama on Capitol Hill, police in Arlington were immersed in their investigation of a homicide at Champion Billiards Sports Cafe. The night manager, Clayton Dicks, 45, had been stabbed to death and a cash register drawer stolen.

Lovitt, then 35, was soon arrested.

[MidwestTransplant]

4. Virginia is even worse than Tx. but because of the size of death row

it doesn't get as much attention. OK is really bad too.

[zbdent]

7. Ken Starr is probably trying to bribe his way back to God's good side

[NNN0LHI]

8. Execution Stayed for Virginia Death Row Inmate

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB6XJ981BE.html

JARRATT, Va. (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court granted a last-minute stay of execution Monday for a man convicted of fatally stabbing the manager of a pool hall.

Robin Lovitt was scheduled to be executed at 9 p.m. Monday, barring intervention from the high court or Gov. Mark R. Warner. The court's action was made without comment.

[Endangered Specie]

11. How long is the stay?

[NYC Liberal]

13. Until the court resumes in October n/t

[geek tragedy]

9. Dear god. eom

[blondeatlast]

10. Congress wants to do away with any chance foer the innocent...

This ugly piece of trash is in both the House and Senate:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1919426

[Kadie]

12. Execution Stayed for Va. Death Row Inmate

Execution Stayed for Va. Death Row Inmate
By KRISTEN GELINEAU, Associated Press Writer

Monday, July 11, 2005



(07-11) 14:51 PDT Richmond, Va. (AP) --


The U.S. Supreme Court granted a last-minute stay of execution Monday for a man convicted of fatally stabbing the manager of a pool hall with a pair of scissors.


Robin Lovitt, 41, had been scheduled for execution at 9 p.m. Monday.


The stay will remain in place until the full court resumes in October. The court will then either hear Lovitt's appeal or allow Virginia to execute him.


Lovitt's attorneys and opponents of capital punishment have argued that the conviction should be reviewed because of questions surrounding the evidence.

more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/07/11/national/w143431D89.DTL

[livinginphotographs]

14. Virginia's death penalty is probably my biggest embarrassment

about this state. The death penalty here is an absolute mess. If the courts had any sense here, they'd have at least commuted his sentence to life, since the destruction of the evidence made any appeal incredibly difficult.

[JitterbugPerfume]

15. this is just

to damn sad

sigh