THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 11, 1996 TAG: 9609110504
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 38 lines
A panel of federal judges reinstated the death sentence Tuesday against a man convicted of raping and murdering a woman outside a Virginia Beach nightspot in 1985.
The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 7-6 that a lower court erred in overturning the death sentence against Joseph Roger O'Dell two years ago.
O'Dell was convicted and sentenced to die for beating and strangling 44-year-old Helen Schartner outside the County Line Lounge on Feb. 5, 1985. Bodily fluids found inside the victim and his bloody clothes were used as evidence against him.
At the time, O'Dell had a record of unrelated assault, armed robbery, second-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery convictions.
A U.S. District Court judge threw out O'Dell's death sentence in 1994, saying O'Dell should have been able to show jurors he was ineligible for parole if sentenced to life. One criterion for imposing a death sentence is a determination of the defendant's ``future dangerousness.''
But the appeals court ruled Tuesday that the sentence met all the legal standards in place at the time.
The judges also rejected O'Dell's claims that he has new evidence proving his innocence. O'Dell has claimed to have new DNA evidence that would exonerate him and evidence of a deal between prosecutors and a key witness in the case.
``Both the federal district court and now the full . . . court have painstakingly canvassed the record'' the panel wrote in its majority opinion.
``Having done so, we are convinced that O'Dell's claims are without merit and his claim of actual innocence not even colorable.''
The panel's decision can be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
KEYWORDS: APPEAL DEATH PENALTY MURDER CAPITAL
PUNISHMENT by CNB