RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Advocacy groups are preparing to deliver petitions asking Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe to halt the execution of an inmate who killed two men during an escape in 2006.
The groups say they will deliver almost 30,000 petitions Thursday asking McAuliffe to call off William Morva's July 6 execution. The groups include Amnesty International, the National Alliance for Mental Illness and the American Bar Association.
Morva's lawyers say he has a mental illness that makes it impossible for him to distinguish between delusions and reality. They say his crimes were spawned by a belief that his life in jail was in danger.
Montgomery County Commonwealth's Attorney Mary Pettitt is urging McAuliffe to not intervene. She dismissed the claim that the mental health experts who examined the man for trial were wrong.
