Chapman v. Commonwealth

Opinion of the Court by

Justice MINTON

I. INTRODUCTION.

During the course of robbing Carolyn Marksberry, Marco Allen Chapman raped and stabbed her before stabbing her three small children, killing two of them. Appearing in circuit court to answer for these brutal crimes, Chapman made an unusual plea agreement with the Commonwealth in which he agreed to plead guilty and volunteered for the death penalty. The circuit court ultimately accepted the plea agreement and sentenced Chapman to death.

The case before us is the review of Chapman’s conviction and sentence in which we are asked to resolve…