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Capital Punishment is legal in the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia . In what is now the commonwealth of Virginia, the first execution in the future United States was carried out in 1607. It was the first of 1,371 executions, the highest total of any state in the Union. For a full list of those executed since 1982 see the List Of Individuals Executed In Virginia . HISTORY Hanging was the predominant method for executions before 1909 . Other methods had been used during this time — three people convicted of Piracy in 1700 were Gibbeted , four pirates were hung in chains in 1720 , and a female slave was burned in 1737 . From 1909 until 1994 , the Electric Chair was used for all but one execution (that of Joel Payne on April 9 , 1909 ). On February 2 , 1951 , eight African American s were executed for rape--the most executions held on a single day in Virginia. The youngest person to have been executed in Virginia was Percy Ellis , who at the age of 16 was electrocuted on March 15 , 1916 . POST-''GREGG'' After the Supreme Court Of The United States upheld Georgia's "guided discretion" laws in '' Gregg V. Georgia '', Virginia's laws were modified along the same lines. The first person executed after being sentenced to death under these laws was Frank Coppola on August 10 , 1982 . He was the first of 94 individuals executed by the state, the second highest total post-''Gregg'' behind Texas. The electric chair continued to be solely used until 1994 , when legislation was enacted giving inmates the choice of Lethal Injection or the electric chair, with lethal injection the default method if no choice was made. Three inmates have since opted for the Virginia Electric Chair ; the most recent was Earl Conrad Bramblett on 9 April 2003 . Executions are carried out at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt and death row is located at the Sussex I State Prison near Waverly. A legal precedent in the United States was created after the U.S. Supreme Court case ''Atkins v. Virginia'', . It ruled that executing the mentally retarded violates the Eighth Amendment 's ban on Cruel And Unusual Punishment s. Daryl Atkins had been involved in a murder and robbery. He was "mildly Mentally Retarded " and had an IQ of 59. The ruling did stay the executions of several people on death row. Atkins was later ajudged to have an IQ of over 70 and remains on death row in Virginia. PUBLIC OPINION In 2001, a poll of Virginians found that 69.5% support the use of the death penalty, with 25.2% opposition. The same poll found that if given the option of Life Imprisonment without the possibility of parole, the support for the death penalty dropped to 45.2%, with 50% supporting life without parole. CAPITAL OFFENSES Before the 20th Century , along with murder and rape, a variety of offenses could merit a death sentence — Arson , Burglary , Horse Rustling , Robbery . Under Virgina's Criminal Code, the following offenses carry the possibility of death:
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