Christopher Scott Emmett - VA - 7/24/08

[Jeff1857]

VIRGINIA----new execution date

Court sets execution date in Danville slaying


A June 13 execution date has been scheduled for a man convicted of robbing and killing a co-worker in Danville in 2001, his lawyer said.

Matthew Engle, an attorney with the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center, said Christopher Scott Emmett's execution date was set Monday by the Danville Circuit Court.

Emmett, 35, was convicted of the April 27, 2001, slaying of John Langley. Jurors heard a taped confession in which Emmett admitted striking Langley in the head with a lamp in the motel room they were sharing.

The men were part of an out-of-town roofing crew working in Danville.

According to prosecutors, Emmett 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.

[Peter]

Forgive my ignorance (but I am English  !) but the minute the recreational drug beast raises it's head doesn't that eliminate any chance of a conviction of Capital Murder? Or have I been reading too many U.S. crime novels? 

Peter M.

[Granny B]

Yep, Peter, too many crime novels. 

Drugs are no excuse for murder.  In this case, the drugs were bought and he got high, AFTER he killed the guy.

[Jeff1857]

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Governor Tim Kaine this evening delayed the execution of a man who murdered a co-worker in 2001.  Kaine's order granted a reprieve to Christopher Scott Emmett only two hours before the convicted killer was scheduled to die by injection. Kaine postponed the execution until October 17th.

The governor said Emmett still has an appeal request pending in the U.S. Supreme Court, and he wants to give the court time to consider it. Earlier in the day, four justices said they would have granted Emmett's request for a stay of execution. It takes five votes to grant a stay, but only four to grant an appeal hearing.

Kaine said basic fairness dictates that condemned imnates be given the opportunity to exahust all their appeals.  Emmett was sentenced to death for bludgeoning John Langley to death in a Danville motel room while attempting to rob him of money so he could buy crack cocaine. Emmett and Langley were part of an out-of-town roofing crew working in the area.
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Not another one.........Geez

[john]

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Governor Tim Kaine this evening delayed the execution of a man who murdered a co-worker in 2001.  Kaine's order granted a reprieve to Christopher Scott Emmett only two hours before the convicted killer was scheduled to die by injection. Kaine postponed the execution until October 17th.

The governor said Emmett still has an appeal request pending in the U.S. Supreme Court, and he wants to give the court time to consider it. Earlier in the day, four justices said they would have granted Emmett's request for a stay of execution. It takes five votes to grant a stay, but only four to grant an appeal hearing.

Kaine said basic fairness dictates that condemned imnates be given the opportunity to exahust all their appeals.  Emmett was sentenced to death for bludgeoning John Langley to death in a Danville motel room while attempting to rob him of money so he could buy crack cocaine. Emmett and Langley were part of an out-of-town roofing crew working in the area.
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Not another one.........Geez

I'm totally confused by all this.  If the Supreme Court denied him a stay, why has the Governor granted him one on the grounds that the court needs more time to consider his appeal?  Is Kaine trying to tell the court that they need more time to consider the case?  Who does he think he is?

[Peter]

Maybe there is too many 'safe guards' in place to see sentence of law carried out.

Maybe the Governor was advised to grant a stay.

Maybe someone paid someone else to influence the decision.

Maybe the Governor didn't have the guts to 'push the button'.

Maybe there is too many 'maybes' and not enough 'DO ITS'!!!

Peter M.

[Jeff1857]

James and everyone. This is what I gather from it even though I don't really understand it. The Supremes voted 5-4 against a stay which theoretically meant he should have been juiced. But with the 4 votes against means he can file another writ <I THINK> for cert again. The governor of Va is an anti although in his campaign he said he would follow the law <which is BS propoganda to get pro votes>. So this was his out to resked the execution so another writ of cert could be filed with the Supremes.This is the second execution that hasn't happened since he was governor and I don't think the people of Virginia will let him stay in the governor's mansion that long at this rate. I could be wrong but that's the way I understood it in my scrambled brain. 

[ScoopD (aka: Pam)]

i cant say what i think because I might get a warning for calling the governor a nasty name.    

[Jeff1857]

i cant say what i think because I might get a warning for calling the governor a nasty name.    

Don't worry I for doggone sure won't give ya one.  .

[Jeff1857]

Supreme Court delays Virginia killer's execution


The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday halted Virginia's planned execution of a man who murdered a co-worker, just hours before he was to be put to death.

Virginia had been preparing to execute Christopher Scott Emmett, 36, even as several other states had stopped executions after the high court agreed to review claims that the method is unconstitutionally cruel.

Emmett had been slated to die by injection at 9 p.m. EDT at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt for the 2001 slaying of John Fenton Langley, whom he beat to death with the base of a brass lamp in a Danville motel room.

The stay granted by the court Wednesday will last until a Richmond-based federal appeals court takes another look at the case. The justices did not comment further on their order.

The Supreme Court decided last month to review whether the lethal injection method most states use is cruel and unusual, based on a challenge from two inmates on death row in Kentucky. Virginia uses the same 3-drug lethal injection cocktail as Kentucky.

Executions in at least 10 states have been halted as a result of the litigation over lethal injections. On Monday, the Nevada Supreme Court issued a stay for a killer just 90 minutes before he was to be put to death.

Death penalty opponents argue that the drugs used in executions don't always work as quickly as intended and inmates are subjected to excruciating pain.

The state attorney general's office has maintained that Virginia's lethal injection procedures have been reviewed by judges multiple times and always found to be humane and constitutional.

"The Supreme Court has spoken and we respect the decision," attorney general spokesman J. Tucker Martin said in response to the high court's decision.

Gene Langley Sr. said lethal injection is a far more humane way to die than the manner in which his brother was killed.

"If everybody wants to be concerned about his well-being, think about the way my brother died," said Langley Sr., 47, of Rocky Mount, N.C. "He should die the same way that my brother died."

Langley and Emmett were friends and had been working together in Danville as part of an out-of-town roofing crew. On the night of the murder, Emmett joined Langley and their co-workers for dinner and a game of cards at their motel.

Later, as Langley slept, Emmett picked up the lamp and hit the 43-year-old father of two several times in the head. He then took a wallet out of Langley's pocket and used the money to buy crack.

[Jeff1857]

Settlement possible in Va. lethal injection case?


Lawyers for a Virginia death row inmate and the state say they might be open to settling a lawsuit by agreeing to a revised method of lethal injection.

That possibility was raised today by a judge during arguments before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It's the 1st lethal injection challenge heard by a federal appeals court since last month's U.S. Supreme Court case upholding Kentucky's procedure.

Inmate Christopher Scott Emmett claims Virginia's protocol is unconstitutional because it doesn't allow a 2nd dose of anesthesia if the 1st one doesn't appear to be enough.

Judge Dennis Shedd asked Emmett's lawyer, Matthew Hellman, if he would drop the case if the state agreed to a method Emmett considers constitutional and effective. Hellman and Richard Vorhis of the state attorney general's office said they would consider such a solution.

Emmett was sentenced to death for the 2001 bludgeoning death of a co-worker in Danville.
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Somebody please tell me the judge is not trying to play Let's Make A
Deal.

[Jeff1857]

In a summary order, the Court cleared the way for Virginia to set a new date for executing Christopher Scott Emmett by lethal injection, but three dissenting Justices noted that Emmett’s lawyers could ask the Fourth Circuit Court for a stay. The Circuit Court now has under advisement a challenge to Virginia’s method of execution. Virginia had asked the Supreme Court to lift the stay it had issued on Oct. 17, while the Justices were preparting to consider the legality of the use of lethal drugs for execution in Kentucky. The Court, by an apparent vote of 6-3, lifted the stay in application 07A304, Emmett v. Johnson. Justice Stevens dissented, joined by Justices Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
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I'm not quite sure how Virginia will handle this since the 4th Circuit just heard the case last week. Hopefully they will fast track the opinion.

[Jeff1857]

VIRGINIA----new execution date

Execution set for man who killed co-worker


A July 24 execution date has been set for a death row inmate who is challenging the state's lethal injection method.

The Attorney General's Office says Danville Circuit Court set the execution date for Christopher Scott Emmett for the 2001 bludgeoning death of a co-worker.

Emmett's execution was one of dozens halted by the Supreme Court while it considered whether lethal injection amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

The court upheld the method of execution, but Emmett claims Virginia's method is unconstitutional because it does not ensure sufficient anesthesia before the paralyzing and heart-stopping drugs are administered.

A 3-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in Emmett's case May 14, and attorneys expected a decision within 60 days.

[Granny B]

Looks like they are finally getting their heads out of their  s and this may be a go.  Justice for the victim and his family is long overdue.

[Jacques]

The court upheld the method of execution, but Emmett claims Virginia's method is unconstitutional because it does not ensure sufficient anesthesia before the paralyzing and heart-stopping drugs are administered.

Poor boy!

He probably did not think about it, when he beat whom to death with the base of a brass lamp in a Danville motel room.

The method is too cruel of course for a crude murderer.

Should whe tickle him maybe to death???