From the Washington Post:
Convicted murderer Robin Lovitt is scheduled to die by injection at Virginia's Greensville Correctional Center on Wednesday night. Only Gov. Mark R. Warner can save his life.Warner (D) has not yet granted clemency to a condemned killer since he took office in 2002. The state has executed 11 men in that time. But now, as Warner is considering a run for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, he must make a decision on the most controversial death penalty case of his four-year term.
Lovitt's attorneys argue that their client -- who has maintained his innocence -- should be spared because an Arlington Circuit Court clerk mistakenly threw away DNA evidence that could have proved his claim. Lovitt's legal team, which includes former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr, says that if Warner doesn't intervene, faith in Virginia's criminal justice system would be eroded permanently because of the possibility of an innocent man's execution. . . .
Lovitt's attorneys are asking that their client's sentence be commuted to life in prison, not that he be pardoned or set free. In an interview last week, Starr said that, as a result of the clerk's mistake, Lovitt has been "deprived of a very important remedy."
There is some political risk lurking behind this decision:
Stephen F. Smith, a [conservative] University of Virginia law professor, said that without compelling evidence of innocence it is difficult for any governor, particularly one considering national office, to grant clemency. He said Republicans could use such a decision to paint Warner as "soft on crime.""I think Mark Warner would be playing with fire by granting this clemency request without clear-cut evidence of innocence," Smith said.
Despite this risk, Warner would have the shield of bi-partisanship. Ken Starr (of impeach Bill Clinton fame) is representing Lovitt, and Mark Earley, former Republican state attorney general and Warner's opponent in 2001, has also urged the governor to grant clemency. Also, every Virginia governor preceding Warner who could commute a death sentence has done so, including now-Senator Allen. Finally, as Jerry Kilgore displayed in his spectacular defeat, too much demogogery on the death penalty has its own risks as well.