The Kentucky Supreme Court will hear arguments this week concerning the request of Marco Allen Chapman to waive his rights to appeal in a capital murder case. According to a story in the Kentucky Post by AP reporter Brett Barrouquere, Chapman pleaded guilty to killing two young children and leaving their older sibling and mother to die in December of 2004. Chapman's defense is concerned that he may not be competent to make such a decision and therefore argue that this is a possible case of "suicide by court."

Virginia Death Penalty: Last Wednesday, the Virginia General Assembly overrode the governor's veto of a bill expanding the death penalty to persons who kill judges or witnesses, but oddly failed to override his veto of Virginia's "triggerman rule," under which a person who orders another to commit a murder is usually exempt from the death penalty. Our previous comment on this rule is here. Michael Hardy and Jeff Schapiro report here for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.