Jefferson v. Commonwealth

Malcolm Marvin Jefferson was convicted in the trial court of killing a prison guard. At the time the offense was committed defendant was an inmate of a Virginia penal institution. He appeals the judgment of the trial court imposing the death penalty, fixed by the jury’s verdict and made mandatory by statute. Code § 53-291.

Code § 53-291 provides, in pertinent part:

“It shall be unlawful for an inmate in a penal institution as defined in § 53-9 or in the custody of an employee thereof to do any of the following:

“(1) To kill, wound or inflict bodily injury upon (a) such employee or (b) any other…