For Powell it's a life or death matter

MANASSAS, Paul Warner Powell was convicted Friday of capital murder by a Prince William jury that will decide next week whether to sentence him to life in prison or death.
After the verdicts were announced and prosecutors presented more evidence, Powell's attorney told the judge that the 22-year-old did not want his parents to testify on his behalf for the sentencing phase of the trial.
Powell was convicted of the capital murder of Stacie Reed, 16, and the rape and attempted capital murder of her sister Kristie Reed, 15. Kristie survived the Jan. 29, 1999 attack and testified against Powell on Tuesday in Prince William Circuit Court.
Circuit Court Judge Herman A. Whisenant Jr. sent jurors home for the weekend at 12:15 p.m.
saying they should not be asked to determine sentencing late in the day Friday after four days of listening to testimony and closing arguments.
Jurors will convene Monday morning to discuss Powell's sentence. They spent four and a half hours deliberating Thursday and Friday on guilt or innocence.
Powell, wearing a white shirt with his dark hair slicked back, stood motionless as the verdicts were read at 10 a.m.. After spectators and the jury left the courtroom, Powell quietly chuckled before a sheriff's deputy escorted him to a holding cell.
Reed family members were comforted by the jury's decision.
Lorraine Reed Culver, the mother of Stacie and Kristie, hugged prosecutors Paul Ebert and James Willett after the verdicts. She testified Friday that the family feels relieved.
Powell had the opportunity to present "mitigation evidence" that jurors could consider in determining his sentence, evidence that might sway them to give him life in prison on the capital murder charge.
Powell's court-appointed attorneys wanted to call his parents to testify, but Powell didn't want to present such a defense.
Defense attorney Daniel J. Morissette, who said he personally opposes the death penalty, appeared troubled by Powell's decision.
"I have witnesses present to testify in mitigation and the defendant has instructed me not to present that testimony, " he said.
Morissette said the testimony would have shown that Powell's parents noticed their son began misbehaving when he was in third grade.
Powell "seemed to invite more punishment whenever he was punished, " Morissette said.
Powell's parents would say their son "always demonstrated a great concern and protectiveness toward small children" and that he "was very kind" to senior citizens in a trailer park where they lived.
Morissette said he believes Powell understands the consequences of not presenting any evidence, and the judge said there was not probable cause that Powell didn't understand the proceedings.
In interviews with the news media and police, Powell has said he would prefer a death sentence if he was convicted of capital murder.
In finding Powell guilty of capital murder, jurors said they found evidence he murdered Stacie Reed during the commission of, or during the same criminal enterprise as, the rape of Kristie Reed.
Virginia law was changed in the mid-1980s to allow capital murder to exist when murder was carried out on one victim and another violent crime was committed against a different victim, prosecutors said.
Kristie was nervous about testifying but is glad she did it, said family spokesman Dan Lawray.
"Kristie is like night and day since that happened, " Lawray said. "She told me she just feels great now."
Her older sister Stacie Reed was a freshman at Osbourn Park High School, was excited about ROTC and wanted to join the U.S. Marines.
Stacie was stabbed three times by Powell, who then waited for her sister to come home and then assaulted her, slit her throat and stabbed her in the abdomen. The attack took place at the girls' home near Yorkshire, just outside Manassas Park.
Jurors also convicted Powell of grand larceny and abduction. They found him not guilty on charges of robbery, attempted robbery and three counts of use or display of a firearm in commission of a felony.
Prosecutors presented testimony Friday from Crosby W. Jones Jr.
a convicted felon who spent time in Powell's cell block at the Prince William-Manassas regional jail.
Jones testified that Powell appeared proud of his crimes and used derogatory language to describe pleasure he took in assaulting Kristie Reed.
Jurors also heard testimony Friday from a jail officer who said Powell threatened him.
Members of the Reed family would be satisfied if Powell receives life in prison but want him sentenced to death, Lawray said.