Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe [official profile] commuted [press release] a death row inmate’s sentence on Thursday stating the conviction was flawed. Ivan Teleguz was sentenced to death for the murder of his ex-girlfriend in 2001. McAuliffe stayed the execution of Telequz concerned that false evidence may have influenced the conviction. During the trial, the prosecution submitted evidence that Telequz was involved in another murder and that he is a member of the Russian mafia, both allegations were later disproved. Telequz’s attorney also provided evidence that testimonies provided during the trial were later recanted. As a response, the governor reduced his sentence to life in prison without parole. However, McAuliffe refuses to completely overturn the conviction as, in his judgment, there is still a great deal of reliable evidence that supports Telequz’s conviction.

The death penalty has been a pressing issue across the country. Earlier this week Amnesty International (AI) released a statement [JURIST report] calling for Arkansas to halt the execution of eight death row prisoners. AI’s annual report [text, PDF], released earlier this month, revealed the US to not be among the world’s top five executioners since 2006. In 2002, the US Supreme Court ruled in Atkins v. Virginia [opinion], that the execution of the “mentally retarded” is excessive under the Eighth Amendment and the Constitution “places a substantive restriction on the State’s power to take the life” of such offender. In March the Mississippi house approved a bill [JURIST report] allowing firing squad executions. In January, a judge blocked [JURIST report] Ohio’s lethal injection protocol by deeming it unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. That same month, the US Supreme Court refused to consider [JURIST report] a challenge to Alabama’s death penalty system. In February the Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] in favor of a death row inmate seeking a new sentencing hearing based on racial bias caused by his ineffective counsel.