Virginia man seeks clemency as he awaits death today

This is a case full of gaping inconsistencies and several interesting twists. A Virginia man, Robin Lovitt, is scheduled to be executed today for brutally murdering Clayton Dicks, 45, during the robbery of the pool house where Clayton worked as a night manager. The surprising part about all this is that there is no DNA evidence linking Lovitt to the scene of the crime or the weapon, a pair of scissors, used to murder Dicks. That’s becasue the state’s DNA laboratory threw it all away. Despite the fact that several of the most vital pieces of evidence to the case were prematurely destroyed, a Virginia jury convicted Lovitt and sentenced him to death in just two hours of deliberations. Lovitt, who at the time was also employed at the pool hall where Dicks worked, admits to having been high on crack and stealing the cash register on the night Dicks was killed. But he insists that he had nothing to do with the slaying.

Members of Clayton Dick’s immediate family intend to be present at Lovitt’s execution at 9pm tonight. Grief-stricken over the senseless death of their relative, they desperately want the closure provided by seeing the man convicted of killing Clayton die as a punishment for his deed. However, the grief that Lovitt’s family is going through is equally as pitiable. They believe Lovitt’s claim of innocence, and can see no justice in his wrongful execution.

Lovitt has found a surprising ally in the legal battle of his life: one of his defense attorney’s in the appellite case, Kenneth Starr, former infamous special prosecutor during the Clinton-Lewinsky scandals. Starr, who is working on the case pro bono, supports the death penalty, but only in the most severe of cases. And he is especially opposed to it in Lovitt’s case because of the contamination of evidence that could have been used to prove his innocence. Another strange fact about this case: Lovitt is in a death row cell very near that of John Allen Muhammad, the convicted Montgomery County sniper. Starr is quoted as saying in a Washington Post article about the case, “To equate Robin Lovitt’s crime with that of John Muhammad is so appaling.”

It’s cases like this one that force us to reconsider the morality and actual effectiveness of the death penalty. The Supreme Court is currently reviewing Lovitt’s appeal, and will release a decision on whether or not the justices will hear the case sometime today. If the Court refuses to review the appeal, then Lovitt’s last hope rests in the hands of Virginia Governor, Mark R. Warner. Warner released a statement in which he said he would review the case and consider granting Lovitt clemency if the Supreme Court refuses to hear his appeal. Until the judicial branch makes a move, Robin Lovitt’s fate will hang in the balance. It’s hard to see the morality and justice in an ending like this.

–Posted by Nicole Brown

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Rock the Vote Bio: Rock the Vote was founded in 1990 to organize artists and fight against censorship of musicians. Since then we've evolved to focus on empowering young people to get involved in the political process. We use pop culture, peer-to-peer organizing, and the latest technology to raise visibility of politics and demystify the process of registering to vote. @rockthevote Email the author at: blog(at)rockthevote.com

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