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

DATE: SATURDAY, July 21, 1990                   TAG: 9007210252
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TEEN WITHDRAWS PLEA IN DRUG KILLING

In an unusual move, Harold E. Anderson decided at the last minute to reject an agreement in which prosecutors had agreed to reduce a charge of first-degree murder to second degree in exchange for his guilty plea.

Anderson, who would have faced up to 20 years in prison had he accepted the deal, at first pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of James P. Ferrell.

But before accepting the plea and finding Anderson guilty, Roanoke Circuit Judge Diane Strickland asked a series of routine questions to determine whether the plea was made freely and voluntarily.

Anderson balked when Strickland asked him if he was pleading guilty because he had, in fact, killed Ferrell.

"No," said Anderson - who has admitted to the killing in detail during earlier statements to police.

Following a meeting with his mother and court-appointed attorney David Bowers, Anderson reappeared in court and Bowers announced that the plea was being withdrawn.

Bowers said after the hearing that he was not sure what prompted Anderson to change his mind.

Anderson will now await a trial for first-degree murder - punishable by up to life in prison - while the Virginia Court of Appeals takes up the issue of whether his confessions are admissible in court.

Ferrell, 22, was shot and killed the night of Feb. 7 near the Lansdowne housing project in Northwest Roanoke. In a confession to police, Anderson said he shot Ferrell because he was "tired of hearing excuses" about an unpaid drug debt of $50.