9 - Pardon Request

Summary

After Crane’s conviction, his father, neighbors, and many others, including three of his jurors, wrote letters to Virginia’s Governor and Council of State, requesting his pardon. Crane’s supporters employed three arguments. One, that the circumstances of the crime did not meet the requirements for murder and that the jury had intended for it to be manslaughter. Two, that Crane suffered from “lunatic fits,” which caused him to “lose his reason.” Third, they reminded the Governor and Council that Crane was from a “respectable” family, and that his execution would devastate, and perhaps kill, his parents. Pardons had a long history in Virginia, and were an important part of Virginia’s legal system. They had many uses – correcting legal errors, fitting circumstances to the law, and procuring testimony from co-conspirators. But the Governor denied Crane’s pardon, and the district court – with a new judge on circuit this time – sentenced Crane to death.