Press Release
BOLLING ENCOURAGES KAINE TO SIGN DEATH PENALTY BILLS
Monday, February 19, 2007
- Bills would eliminate triggerman rule and extend death penalty for execution of witnesses under subpoena in criminal cases -
RICHMOND - Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling today encouraged Governor Tim Kaine to sign two bills recently approved by the General Assembly that would expand the death penalty in Virginia.
The first of these bills, SB1288 and HB2348, would repeal the so called triggerman rule. This legislation provides that accessories to capital murder may also be eligible for the death penalty in addition to the actual perpetrator.
The second of these bills, SB1116 and HB 2347, would extend the death penalty to persons that participate in the willful, deliberate and premeditated killing of any witness under subpoena in a criminal case for the purpose of interfering with the person''''s duties in such case.
In a letter to Kaine, Bolling wrote, "I encourage you to sign these bills when they reach your desk. They represent a logical and appropriate extension of the death penalty to a group of killers whose actions warrant the maximum punishment allowed by law."
In his letter to Kaine, Bolling noted that his support for these bills "arose out of numerous conversations I have had over the past year with law enforcement officials and Commonwealth''s Attorneys who feel that these bills would be an important deterrent to crime, in particular, to gang related crimes that are increasing at a rapid rate in many parts of our state."
Both of these bills were included in Bolling''s 2007 Legislative Agenda.
Click here to read the Lieutenant Governor''s letter.
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For additional information contact Randy Marcus at 804-814-7117 (cell) or randy.marcus@ltgov.virginia.gov.
