Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 3, 1994                   TAG: 9403030079
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

EXECUTION BILL NEAR TO DEFEAT IN STATE SENATE

After an hour of emotional debate Wednesday, the measure appeared doomed when Lt. Gov. Don Beyer broke a tie vote among 40 senators by casting his ballot against the bill. But supporters, needing to switch one vote for victory, persuaded the chamber to reconsider the matter today.

Beyer, who said last week that he backed the legislation, said he changed his mind during a floor debate Wednesday in which opponents angrily dubbed the measure "the vengeance bill."

"States have a responsibility not to open executions up as a spectacle but to do this as soberly and carefully as possible," said Beyer, who is expected to seek the Democratic nomination for governor in 1997. Beyer predicted that the legislation will be defeated for a final time today.

The bill, which was narrowly approved in the House last month, was introduced by Del. Robert McDonnell, R-Virginia Beach. McDonnell, a former prosecutor, argued that witnessing the execution could help the victim's family reach a psychological "closure" to their tragedy.

Parents of two Virginia murder victims gave riveting testimony to the General Assembly last month about how the Department of Corrections turned a deaf to ear to their pleas to witness the execution of their children's slayers.

But in a dramatic speech Wednesday, Sen. Elliot Schewel, D-Lynchburg, said the presence of a victim's family would turn electrocutions into little more than a `Thanksgiving Day feast."

"This bill allows relatives to drink to the death of a fellow human being and feast on the carcass," he said. "This bill is about vengeance. It is so egregious that it defies the mind."

Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville, labeled the bill a weak attempt to convince voters that the lawmakers are tough on crime.

"This bill may be a real vote-getter back home," he said. "But I'll tell you, if this is a way of getting votes, I don't want any of them. I don't want any part this."

Supporters angrily disputed claims that vengeance for the victim's family is the aim of the legislation. "To believe that, you have to impute the worst motives to a family of a victim in this stage of their ordeal," said Sen. Mark Earley, R-Chesapeake. "You have to have a total disregard for the feelings of the family."

The bill would allow a victim's family the option of sending three adult members to watch the execution. Earley argued that the state offers journalists and lawmakers the opportunity to witness executions and that the same accord should be offered to a victim's family. At least six states, he said, already have such legislation on the books.

In a macabre effort apparently designed to defeat the bill, Sen. Richard Saslaw, D-Springfield, offered an unsuccessful amendment that would have allowed a victim's family member the option to "throw the switch" to the electric chair. "If the family feels it will make them feel better, we ought to let them do it," Saslaw said.

Democrats voted 17-5 against the bill while Republicans backed it, 15-3. Gov. George Allen has said he will sign the measure should it reach his desk.

Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994