Joseph Giarratano

Joseph M. Giarratano is a prisoner serving six consecutive life sentences in Deerfield Correctional Center. Convicted of murdering his girlfriend and raping and strangling her 15-year-old daughter in 1979, he was sentenced to death. However, the investigation of his case revealed evidence that contradicted his guilt. Stab wounds were inflicted by a right handed person (Giarratano was left handed), a hair sample which was found on the rape victim did not match Giarratano's, bloody shoe prints found near the scene of the crime did not match Giarratano's, and the official autopsy report was altered after statements given by Giarratano. All attempts to appeal this case and showcase the evidence were rejected for non-compliance with procedural rules.[1]

While an inmate on Virginia's death row, he helped file habeas corpus petitions for himself and several other prisoners.[2] He was involved in a Murray vs. Giarratano, 492 U.S. 1 (1989), which reached the United States Supreme Court. In Murray v. Giarratano, the United States Supreme Court upheld that there is no Constitutional right to appointed counsel in state habeas proceedings, and that the rule applies equally to capital cases.[3][4] He was also involved in a 1984 escape from the Mecklenburg Correctional Center.[5]

Giarratano also advocated for the release of fellow inmate Earl Washington Jr., pointing to his mental disability. DNA test results called into question if Washington committed the crime for which he had been sentenced to death. Governor Douglas Wilder commuted his sentence from death to life imprisonment, and in 2006, Washington received a full pardon and was released.[6]

In 1992 Giarratano was able to set up a 14-week course on the topic on non-violence with the assistance of Colman McCarthy. The program continued complete with graduation certificates, until 1995 when Giarrantano was transferred to another Virginian prison and eventually to Utah for being an 'agitator.' NBC nightly news had covered the program and as a result several donations were made including a grant from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Colman McCarthy
  2. ↑ Margolick, David (5 March 1990). "Legal Scholar on Death Row Fights to Halt Own Execution". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  3. ↑ "Representation in Capital Cases". Capital Punishment in Context. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  4. ↑ Vollers, Maryanne (28 May 1990). "As His Date with the Executioner Nears, Joe Giarratano Says He's No Killer—and Some People Believe Him : People.com". People. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Va. death row inmate tried it a second time". The Free Lance-Star. 30 Nov 1985. p. 13. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  6. ↑ Bearss, Sara. "Virginia Libraries v50n1 - Virginia Reviews". Margaret Edds. An Expendable Man: The Near-Execution of Earl Washington Jr. New York and London: New York University Press, 2003. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  7. ↑ McCarthy, Colman. "I'd Rather Teach Peace." Orbis Books, 2002, pp. 95-110

External links

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