Amid mount­ing con­cerns that Virginia may exe­cute an inno­cent man on April 25, a diverse group of reli­gious, polit­i­cal, and busi­ness lead­ers are call­ing on Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to grant clemen­cy to Ivan Teleguz (pic­tured). Their pleas for clemen­cy stress that Teleguz was con­vict­ed based upon high­ly unre­li­able tes­ti­mo­ny and sen­tenced to death based upon false tes­ti­mo­ny that he had been involved in a fab­ri­cat­ed Pennsylvania mur­der that had, in fact, nev­er occurred. Teleguz was con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to death on charges that he had hired Michael Hetrick to kill Stephanie Sipe, Teleguz’s ex-girl­friend. But as a let­ter from more than two dozen promi­nent con­ser­v­a­tives — includ­ing for­mer Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley and for­mer Republican Party of Virginia exec­u­tive direc­tor Shaun Kenney — urg­ing McAuliffe to spare Teleguz explains, the case against him ​“relied almost entire­ly on dubi­ous tes­ti­mo­ny” from the con­fessed mur­der­er and two oth­er wit­ness­es who ​“lat­er admit­ted that they lied in court and swore under oath that Teleguz was not involved in Sipe’s mur­der.” Hetrick, they write, ​“had incen­tive to lie, since he received a deal spar­ing him from the death penal­ty in exchange for his tes­ti­mo­ny against Teleguz.” He is now serv­ing a life sen­tence. The oth­ers ​“con­fessed to giv­ing false tes­ti­mo­ny at tri­al because of threats from the pros­e­cu­tor and promis­es she made to lessen the sever­i­ty of their sen­tences.” Teleguz’s clemen­cy peti­tion is also sup­port­ed by for­mer Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich, the Virginia Council of Churches, Virgin CEO Richard Branson, and more than 100,000 sign­ers of a Change​.org peti­tion. The Richmond Times-Dispatch also urged McAuliffe to grant clemen­cy, writ­ing that ​“McAuliffe does not have to decide whether Teleguz is guilty or not. He mere­ly has to decide whether new infor­ma­tion casts doubt on the con­vic­tion.” The paper wrote, ​“jus­tice still will be served” by hav­ing Teleguz serve life in prison if he turns out to be guilty, but if the state exe­cutes an inno­cent man, ​“Virginia will have com­mit­ted a great crime.” The edi­to­r­i­al con­clud­ed: ​“Given those two alter­na­tives, the gov­er­nor seems to face an easy choice.” [UPDATE: On April 20, 2017, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe grant­ed clemen­cy to Ivan Teleguz.]

(C. Drinan, ​“Three Reasons Why Virginia May Execute an Innocent Man,” Huffington Post, April 13, 2017; Editorial, ​“Gov. McAuliffe should grant clemen­cy for Ivan Teleguz,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 13, 2017; T. Wheatley, ​“McAuliffe should grant Teleguz clemen­cy,” The Washington Post, April 14, 2017; ​“Conservatives Urge Virginia Governor to Spare Inmate’s Life,” Associated Press, April 11, 2017; V. Wood, ​“Ivan Teleguz’s attor­neys react to wide­spread plea to halt his exe­cu­tion,” WHSV, April 13, 2017; ​“Press Release: Attorneys for Ivan Teleguz, who Virginia plans to exe­cute on April 25 despite evi­dence of inno­cence, file peti­tion with Governor McAuliffe request­ing clemen­cy,” April 7, 2017.) See Clemency and New Voices.

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