On August 4, 2014, SFH partner Bradley Haywood, along with co-lead counsel Christopher Leibig, successfully negotiated a plea to life in Commonwealth v. Mack Leon Wood, a death penalty case that had been pending for over 18 months in Arlington County, VA. The prosecutors had long been seeking death against Mr. Wood, who they believed to be the mastermind of a murder-for-hire scheme in which it was alleged that he conspired to kill his 87-year old father, Mack Wood, Sr., a resident of North Arlington, in October of 2012. Although the parties were at odds during many months of heated litigation, in recent weeks a resolution appeared possible, and after lengthy negotiations with the Commonwealth, an offer was extended that spared Mr. Wood the death penalty and resulted in the dismissal of three counts of the five count indictment. Mr. Wood accepted that offer, entering the plea this afternoon.
Capital litigation places demands on counsel unlike any other case in the criminal justice system, from motions practice to investigation, to mediation and negotiation. And it does so where the stakes — the life of the defendant — could never be greater. SFH commends the hard work of Brad Haywood and Christopher Leibig, without whose advocacy Mr. Wood would be facing a capital trial and a significant risk of execution.
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