Kaine Delays Execution Of Inmate for 6 Months

The decision immediately prompted questions about Kaine's campaign promise to uphold Virginia's death penalty laws despite his personal opposition to capital punishment.

Kaine, who is Catholic, drew criticism from Kilgore and others for his opposition in a state that widely favors it. In searing comments and campaign ads, Kilgore accused Kaine, who as a lawyer had represented two death-row inmates, of being soft on criminals.

Kaine spokesman Kevin Hall said the governor made his final decision yesterday morning as he began his day with a trip to the White House and before discussions about the unfinished state budget. Hall rejected any connection to politics.

"It demeans the seriousness of this process to reduce it to a crass political equation," Hall said.

Still, the move to delay Walton's execution could have political ramifications for Kaine, who has struggled for months to sell his transportation proposal to a skeptical Republican majority in the legislature.

But Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said that although Kaine's action may be controversial, its political impact may be softened by his decision to allow the execution of convicted killer Dexter Lee Vinson.

Walton pleaded guilty in 1997 to killing Jessie and Elizabeth Kendrick, an elderly Danville couple, and his neighbor Archie Moore. No competency hearing was held before the death penalty was issued.

Legal and psychiatric experts debated for years whether Walton's mental condition prevented him from understanding that he had been sentenced to death for the killings. During a 2003 hearing, Walton misstated key facts about his case and repeatedly gave nonsensical answers when questioned by lawyers. His case received widespread attention after a psychiatrist at that proceeding testified that Walton believed he would ride a motorcycle to Burger King after he was put to death.

Attorneys for Walton said in their clemency petition that Walton began showing signs of mental instability when he was about 16; the killings occurred a month after Walton's 18th birthday. In 1996, he scored 90 on an IQ test; seven years later, he scored 66. Psychiatrists generally consider someone with an IQ below 70 to be mentally retarded.

Last year, Kaine's predecessor, then-Gov. Mark R. Warner (D), commuted the death sentence of Robin Lovitt to life in prison. Virginia governors have granted clemency in seven cases since the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976.

The Kendricks' daughter, Barbara K. Case of Brandon, Miss., said yesterday that she would be satisfied with a life sentence for Walton. "I've said all along that I think that's a worse punishment, to be in prison for life without parole," Case said.

The hours leading up to Walton's scheduled execution were tense. His attorneys won a reprieve Wednesday when a federal judge in Norfolk halted the execution pending a Supreme Court decision about the constitutionality of lethal injection. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond vacated the stay.