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

DATE: SATURDAY, June 2, 1990                   TAG: 9006020183
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: JONESVILLE                                 LENGTH: Short

SENTENCING DELAYED IN SLAYING OF DEPUTY

A Lee County Circuit Court judge has delayed a decision in the sentencing of David Wayne Mills, convicted of first-degree murder in the 1988 shooting death of Deputy Sheriff John Lee Martin.

Mills' attorneys asked the court earlier this week for a mistrial based on alleged illegally obtained evidence and juror prejudice.

The jury recommended a life sentence for Mills, 26, who was convicted in November. Mills also was found guilty of plotting to rob a local health clinic, for which an additional 10-year sentence was recommended.

Mills' attorneys, Lonnie L. Kern and Walter E. Rivers, asked for a presentence report in addition to the mistrial motion. "We felt the defendant did not get the benefit of a fair trial," Kern said.

Circuit Judge William C. Fugate said he will rule on the motions July 27.

Mills was arrested in Effingham, Ill., after a security expert who was wiring the home where Mills lived found a box of gun shells, a wig and ski mask in Mills' room.

by CNB