3 Hours Before Execution, Va. Governor Commutes Death Sentence

With an execution only three hours away, Virginia’s governor commuted an inmate’s death sentence Thursday after four jurors said they doubted their verdict and the victim’s mother pleaded for mercy.

Gov. George F. Allen was Joseph Payne’s last hope after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeal earlier in the day, 7 to 2.

“My decision is based on consideration of the totality of the records and on no single item,” said the Republican governor, a strong death penalty proponent.

Payne, whose sentence was commuted to life without parole, already was serving life for a previous murder. He got the news in the “death house” at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt.

Payne, 40, was convicted in the 1985 death of David Dunford, 28, a fellow inmate who was doused with paint thinner and set on fire. Dunford died nine days later without identifying his killer.

Payne’s conviction came after another inmate, Robert Smith, testified that he saw Payne set the fire. In exchange for his testimony, Smith had 15 years shaved off his 40-year sentence for armed robbery.

A year after Payne’s 1986 trial, Smith recanted, only to later recant his recantation. He said he initially recanted so other inmates would stop calling him a snitch.

Payne’s lawyer called only one witness, who said he saw Smith set the fire.