Join a

Public Vigil to Oppose the Death Penalty

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Vigil starts at noon,
outside the Charlottesville Circuit Court
315 E. High Street
Charlottesville

Join us in protesting the execution of Christopher Scott Emmett, scheduled for 9 o'clock that evening

There will also be a vigil at the Friends Meeting House at 1104 Forest St. at 8:45 p.m.

Join us in calling for a state-wide Moratorium Now!

Vigil sponsored by:
Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice,
Charlottesville Friends Meeting (Quakers),
Charlottesville/Albemarle Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Sowers of Justice,
Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Peace & Justice Committee Westminster Presbyterian Church
Amnesty International Group 157

For more information, call Betty Gallagher, (434) 979-9263
or visit www.vadp.org [1]

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Christopher Scott Emmett

At 9 o’clock, Thursday evening, July 24, a lethal substance will be injected into Christopher Scott Emmett with the intention of ending his life. He was convicted of the April 26, 2001, capital murder and robbery of his co-worker, John Langley, in Danville, Virginia. He was 29 at the time of the murder. Jurors heard a taped confession in which Emmett admitted striking Langley in the head with a lamp in the motel room they were sharing. In the tape, Emmett says he killed Langley, robbed him of $100, bought and smoked crack cocaine, and then called the police to report that something had happened to his roommate.
Emmett’s court-appointed defense lawyer failed to investigate and present mitigating evidence during the penalty phase that would have detailed Emmett’s wretched life as a child. Social service records and witnesses describe Emmett’s childhood home as extremely chaotic, abusive, and neglectful. Three of Emmett’s older siblings were kidnapped from school by their biological father, who was appalled by the conditions in the home. Sadly, because Emmett was too young to be attending school, he was left behind. Faye White, a state social worker who visited Emmett’s childhood home, states “[t]he situation in the Emmett home was one of the worst I have seen. It was the classic, text-book case of what you hear discussed as being the environments in which adults who have serious problems have been raised.” Virtually no mitigating evidence about Emmett’s childhood was presented to the jury to avoid a death sentence. On November 2, 2001, Emmett was sentenced to death.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rejected Emmett’s appeal, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled time and again that defense counsel must thoroughly investigate a client’s childhood for mitigating evidence in convincing juries to spare his life. The Supreme Court of Virginia unanimously reaffirmed that “the representation provided to Emmett by his trial counsel ‘fell below an objective standard of reasonableness.’ [and that ‘r]easonably competent counsel would have objected to a verdict form that did not comport with the holding in Atkins and the requirements of [Virginia] Code.” Despite this, the Supreme Court of Virginia refused to grant a new penalty trial.
We are a coalition of religious and citizen groups that oppose the death penalty on grounds of conscience. We believe that human life is not something that belongs to any government. We believe that if a government kills a person, that sends a powerful message that killing people is acceptable. We believe that all human beings, including those who commit terrible crimes, have the potential for moral growth, and that one purpose of punishment should be to allow that growth to take place. Capital punishment puts that process to death.
We join those who mourn the loss of John Langley and are determined to eliminate the violence that brought about his senseless murder. We pray for Christopher Emmett and his family on a day of anguish for them. And we pray for the citizens, legislators, and Governor of Virginia: may all Virginians re-examine in our hearts and prayers whether our Commonwealth ought to be in the business of inflicting death.
We invite you to join our actions and our prayers.