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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 11, 1990                   TAG: 9004110620
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

PARDON ASKED FOR WRONGLY CONVICTED MAN

Both the attorney for Russell Leon Gray, who is serving a 52-year sentence on a murder conviction, and the prosecutor in the case have asked that Gray be pardoned now that another man has confessed to the crime.

Michael S. Harvey, 27, of Richmond, was convicted Tuesday of voluntary manslaughter under a plea agreement in Circuit Court for the 1986 shooting death of Carl Williams Martindale, also of Richmond.

Based in part on the testimony of two witnesses who identified Gray as the gunman, Gray was sentenced to 52 years in Mecklenburg Correctional Center in January 1987.

Robert Wilkes, the key prosecution witness in Gray's trial, told the jury he saw Gray crouched behind a building, pistol in hand, when shots were fired at Martindale.

In a sworn statement at the time, Harvey denied involvement in the shooting and gave similar testimony as a defense witness, said Cary B. Bowen, Gray's attorney.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Learned Barry said Martindale was involved in a confrontation that began on a basketball court and ended later in the evening of June 30, 1986. He said a rowdy crowd had gathered and Martindale fired a pistol in the air to scare them away.

Martindale was shot in the neck moments later and died July 8 in the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals.

Harvey later said he shot Martindale because he thought Martindale was firing at his friends, Bowen said.

- Associated Press

by CNB