Turner v. Commonwealth

On November 26, 1980, this Court approved the conviction and death sentence of Willie Lloyd Turner for the murder during armed robbery of the proprietor of a jewelry store. Turner v. Commonwealth, 221 Va. 513, 273 S.E.2d 36 (1980) (Turner I). The Supreme Court of the United States denied certiorari. Turner v. Virginia, 451 U.S. 1011 (1981).

Subsequent habeas corpus proceedings brought by Turner proved unsuccessful until his habeas appeal reached the Supreme Court. On April 30, 1986, that Court overturned Turner’s death sentence, but not his conviction, for the trial court’s failure to question…