
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 2, 1990                   TAG: 9003023515
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                 LENGTH: Medium

$8.5 MILLION AWARDED IN REYNOLDS RAPE CASE

Reynolds Metals heir Cornelious Francis Florman was responsible for the October 1986 rape of a 33-year-old woman and must pay the victim $8.5 million, a Henrico County jury has ruled in a civil case.

The victim's lawyer, Michael Morchower, said the case apparently marks the first time in Virginia that a defendant has been acquitted of rape in criminal court but held accountable for the offense by a civil jury.

Florman's first criminal trial in the attack on the woman ended in a mistrial when the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. The second ended with his acquittal after eight hours of deliberation by a jury brought in from Yorktown because of intense pre-trial publicity.

After Thursday's verdict, the victim's mother said she was proud of her daughter "for having the courage to go through a trial a third time."

While Florman comes from a wealthy family - his great-grandfather founded Reynolds Metals Co. - his personal financial status is unknown.

One of Florman's attorneys, William S. Smithers, declined to comment on Florman's net worth.

The victim's husband said, "We were never in it for the money. We just wanted justice to be served."

The victim testified that she was in her bathroom around 8 p.m. Oct. 23, 1986, when Florman burst in, threw a jacket over her head, dragged her by the neck to the other end of the house and raped her in a guest bedroom. But the jacket slipped during the struggle and she was able to catch glimpses of his face.

The jury, composed of four women and three men, deliberated about three hours following three days of testimony.

The panel set the award at $3 million in compensatory damages and $7 million in punitive damages for the rape, and $1 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages for false imprisonment.

Circuit Judge Joseph Spinella reduced the jury's award on compensatory damages to the amount sought in the woman's suit - $250,000 per count. The punitive damages were allowed to stand because they were not greater than the amount requested in the suit, which asked for a total of $12.5 million.

Florman, 24, is slated to face another civil trial March 12. A Chesterfield County woman who was raped by Florman has filed an $18 million lawsuit against Florman.

Florman was convicted of that rape in June 1987 and sentenced to five years in prison.

by CNB