High Court's Refusal of Inmate's Petition Includes Rebuke of State

The U.S. Supreme Court declined yesterday to review the death sentence of a Virginia man who claimed that his trial attorney failed to present an adequate defense, potentially clearing the way for his execution this month.

But two members of the court, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Paul Stevens, also issued a statement critical of the way Virginia had pursued the execution.

Virginia set an execution date days before the high court's deadline for requesting such reviews and well before the court could have had a chance to rule on the defendant's petition. The statement urged states to schedule executions after the high court has had a chance to review a defendant's death sentence appeal for the first time.

Christopher Scott Emmett, who beat a sleeping co-worker to death with a brass lamp after the victim refused to lend him $100 to buy drugs, argued that his trial attorney had failed to research and present to the jury an accurate portrait of his abusive and neglectful upbringing. Emmett, 36, is scheduled to be executed Oct. 17.

Stevens, in the statement joined by Ginsburg, said he concurred in the court's decision not to hear the case based on the merits of Emmett's arguments. But Stevens also said Virginia had nearly cut short the ability of the court to review Emmett's appeal.

Emmett filed his petition seeking a writ of certiorari June 1, well ahead of the Supreme Court's June 27 deadline. Petitions filed at that time of the year normally are heard after the court's summer break.

But Virginia scheduled Emmett's execution for June 13. Four justices voted to grant a stay of execution, but five were needed, so Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) stepped in, postponing the execution to allow Emmett's petition before the Supreme Court to go forward.

Stevens said the "interest in avoiding irreversible error in capital cases" would be served by a routine practice of staying all executions scheduled before the court has reviewed a death row inmate's first application for a federal writ of habeas corpus.

Meanwhile, Emmett's attorneys continued to pursue two other avenues to keep him alive. They have filed a clemency petition that is pending before Kaine. They also are challenging Virginia's method of lethal injection for executions. That is pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to decide in another case whether lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.

Matthew L. Engle, a staff attorney with the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center who is handling the appeals, said he might seek another execution postponement from the governor until the Supreme Court decides on the constitutionality of lethal injection.

Kevin Hall, a spokesman for Kaine, said the governor will follow the tradition of allowing the judicial process to play out before deciding whether to act.

Emmett killed a fellow North Carolina roofer, John F. Langley, 43, in April 2001 while the two were sharing a motel room in Danville. Emmett told police he had not intended to kill Langley but wanted to render him unconscious so that he could rob him of money to get some crack cocaine.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.