A Nov. 19, 2009 editorial in the Richmond Times-Dispatch notes that 20 months have elapsed since the last jury verdict imposing a death sentence in Virginia, and detects a long-term trend:  "We suspect that, with considerable nuance, the citizenry is turning away from capital punishment. Although polls suggest majorities continue to support the death penalty in theory, individuals may be growing reluctant to impose it in practice. . . . We  . . .  would not be surprised if the death penalty disappeared because juries seldom imposed it -- and because, for that reason, prosecutors stopped seeking it."