Eligible for Execution: The
Daryl Atkins Story
Sources and References
An extensive listing of the sources that were used to write Eligible for Execution as well as related bibliographic information.
1. Press Accounts of the Atkins case
2. Legal Commentary on Atkins v. Virginia
3. Atkins Case Documents
4. Supreme Court, Judicial Process, and Criminal Justice System Bibliography
5. Death Penalty Bibliography
Atkins Case Update - Click Here
The latest activities in the ongoing Atkins litigation.
Atkins Case Exhibits - Click Here
Copies of actual documents relevant to the Atkins case, such as indictments, autopsy reports, verdict forms, plea bargain
agreements, etc. Allow students to see what some of the documents discussed in the book actually look like.
Atkins Appellate Decisions - Click Here
The full text of five appellate court rulings in the Atkins case.
Supreme Court Oral Arguments - Click Here
A transcript of the oral arguments presented to the U.S. Supreme Court in Atkins v. Virginia.
Death Penalty Information - Click Here
Descriptive and statistical information on the death penalty, covering things like murder rates, state-by-state capital punishment
laws, means of execution, execution rates, etc.
Supreme Court Cruel and Unusual Punishment Case Excerpts - Click Here
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Atkins Case Exhibits
• The links below allow access to
copies of selected judicial orders,
court documents, and evidence
relevant to the charges against Daryl
Atkins for the murder of Eric
Nesbitt.
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Discovery Order - Upon request the prosecution must provide
relevant information to the defense. Here is the initial judicial
order providing the attorneys for Daryl Atkins access to
prosecution materials and evidence. Several other discovery
orders were issued as the case progressed.
Atkins’s Account to the Robbery of Pizza Delivery Man Kevin
Phillips - Daryl Atkins was convicted of multiple crimes
committed in the months leading up to the murder of Eric Nesbitt.
In one of those crimes Atkins participated with others in the
robbery of Kevin Phillips, a pizza delivery man. This document
includes Atkins’s handwritten description of his role in the
crime along with his answers to questions posed by the
interrogating police detective. Because the handwritten
confession is difficult to read, an unofficial transcript of it
appears at the end of the document.
Atkins’s Confession to the Maiming of Amanda Hamlin - In his
most serious offense prior to the Nesbitt murder Daryl Atkins
attempted to rob Amanda Hamlin as she finished mowing her lawn.
In the course of the unsuccessful robbery, Atkins shot and maimed
Hamlin. This document includes Atkins’s handwritten confession
to the crime as well as his answers to questions posed by the
interrogating police detective. Because the handwritten
confession is difficult to read, an unofficial transcript of it
appears at the end of the document.
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4. Autopsy Report - Following her examination of Eric Nesbitt’s body,
Dr Leah Bush issued an autopsy report that included this drawing of
the wounds Nesbitt suffered.
5.
Indictment - On November 19, 1996 the grand jury issued indictments
against Daryl Atkins for several offenses committed against Eric
Nesbitt, including this indictment for premeditated murder during
the commission of a robbery.
6.
Appointment of Counsel - UIndigent criminal defendants are entitled
to the services of an attorney at government expense. On November
11, 1996, Judge Prentis Smiley officially appointed George M.
Rogers III as lead attorney for Daryl Atkins.
7.
William Jones Plea Agreement - Plea bargaining is a common method
of disposing of criminal cases. The plea agreement reached between
William Jones and the prosecution was critical in obtaining
testimony that led to the conviction of Daryl Atkins on capital
murder charges.
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8.
Guilt Phase Verdict Forms - Following the guilt phase of the 1998 trial,
the jury concluded that Daryl Atkins was guilty of capital murder and the
use of a firearm in the commission of a murder. The foreman of the jury,
Melvin Underwood, signed the verdict forms indicating the jury’s
unanimous decision.
9.
Defective Sentencing Verdict Form - In January of 1999 the Supreme Court
of Virginia overturned the jury’s 1998 death sentence against Daryl
Atkins because of this defective verdict form. The jury concluded that the
prosecution had successfully proven the existence of both aggravating
factors recognized under Virginia law: that Daryl Atkins posed continuing
threat to society and that his crime was outrageously or wantonly vile.
But note that the verdict form, while presenting the jury with six
possible alternatives, failed to provide an option for finding the absence
of both aggravating factors. The Virginia high court concluded that a
death sentence cannot be imposed where the verdict form does not give the
jury the full range of choices to consider. The justices ordered that the
sentencing issue be retried.
10.
Second Sentencing Verdict Form - The question of an appropriate sentence
for Daryl Atkins was retried before a second jury in August 1999. This
jury, like the first, concluded that both aggravating circumstances were
present and recommended that Atkins be sentenced to death. Note that this
verdict form includes all seven possible outcomes. The Virginia Supreme
Court upheld the sentence in September 2000.
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11. Appointment of Dr. Evan S. Nelson - Judge Prentis Smiley appoints Dr. Evan
Nelson as a mental health expert for the defense for the 2005 retardation
hearing. Dr. Nelson previously had worked with the defense during the sentencing
phases of the process.
12.
Appointment of Dr. Stanton Samenow - The prosecution was also entitled to the
appointment of mental heath experts to evaluate Daryl Atkins’s intellectual
ability. In this judicial order Judge Smiley authorizes Dr. Samenow to work with
the Commonwealth’s Attorney for the 2005 retardation hearing.
13.
Substitution of Counsel Order - Prior to the 2005 retardation trial, Attorney
Robert Lee of the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center, who had
represented Atkins in his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, asked Judge Smiley
to replace George M. Rogers III and Bryan L. Saunders as Atkins’s legal counsel
because of possible conflict of interest issues. Here Judge Smiley agrees to
that request by replacing Rogers and Saunders with Capital Defender Joseph A.
Migliozzi, Jr.
14.
Atkins’s Academic Record - A key factor in establishing Daryl Atkins’s
intellectual ability was his performance in school. This document summarizes the
grades Atkins earned in high school.
15.
Juror’s Request to be Excused - During the 2005 retardation trial, one juror
passed this note to the court indicating great emotional discomfort in dealing
with the capital punishment issue and requesting to be excused. Judge Smiley
excused the juror.
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• Retardation Verdict - In August 2005 the jury found
that Daryl Atkins had failed to prove by a
preponderance of evidence that he was retarded. The
unanimous decision of the jury is verified by this
verdict form signed by foreman Stephen T. Jackson.
•
Atkins’s Execution Date - Following the 2005
retardation trial, Judge Smiley accepted the jury’s
verdict that Atkins was not retarded, re-imposed the
death sentence, and set the execution date for December
2, 2005.
•
Judge Smiley Reduces Daryl Atkins’s Sentence to Life
in Prison without Parole - In January 2008 Judge Smiley
agreed with the argument of the defense that the
Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office had improperly
withheld from the defense relevant evidence prior to
Atkins’s initial trial. As a consequence Judge Smiley
vacated Atkins’s death sentence and imposed a sentence
of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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Press Accounts of the Atkins Case
• There was significant press coverage of the Daryl
Atkins case, starting with the commission of the crime
and continuing throughout the many phases of the
judicial process. In the beginning primary news
coverage appeared in local newspapers such as the
Hampton Roads Daily Press, but as the case gained
importance the national media began following the
litigation. These reports helped inform the writing of
Eligible for Execution. Listed below are many of the
relevant articles that appeared in print or electronic
format in the nation’s newspapers, magazines,
broadcast media, and wire service reports. The articles
are organized by topic and arranged generally in the
order in which they appeared in the book. In most cases
the full text of article is available in the outlet’s
electronic archives.
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KEY FIGURES-Daryl Atkins
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Plunkett, A. J. "Two Men Accused in More Holdups, Suspects Charged
in Airman’s Slaying," The Daily Press, September 11, 1996.
Rosenberg, Patti. "Suspect: Killing ‘Just Happened.’ Night of
Drinking Led to Airman’s Death, The Daily Press, August 28, 1996.
Spencer, Jim. "Armed Robbery Ignored Until It Was Too Late," The
Daily Press, September 8, 1996.
St. George, Donna. "A Question of Culpability, Mental Capacity of
Convicted Virginia Man is a Murky Legal Issue," Washington Post,
July 23, 2005.
Williams, Beverly N. "Crime Spree Leads to Convictions, Accused
Killer Faces Multiple Jail Terms, The Daily Press, March 8, 1997.
Williams, Beverly N. "Murder Suspect Will Face 24 Charges, 10
Victims of Spree Describe Crimes," The Daily Press, October 26,
1996.
Williams, Beverly N. "Robberies Net Life, 106 Years," The Daily
Press, May 2, 1997.
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Atkins Case Update
• The Virginia Supreme Court's decision
effectively ended the Atkins case. No
longer would Daryl Atkins face the
prospects of an execution. After
spending a decade on death row,
Atkins would now be released into the
general prison population where he
will spend the rest of his life for
the murder of Eric Nesbitt.
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