Mickens v. Commonwealth

In this appeal, we review a judgment sentencing Walter Mickens, Jr., to death following a second sentencing hearing.

I

Mickens was convicted of the capital murder of Timothy Jason Hall, i.e., the willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of Hall in the commission of, or subsequent to, attempted forcible sodomy, in violation of Code § 18.2-31(5), and sentenced to death. We affirmed the conviction and death sentence. Mickens v. Commonwealth, 247 Va. 395, 442 S.E.2d 678 (1994) (Mickens I). The Supreme Corn! of the United States, however, vacated the judgment and remanded the case to this Court…