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

DATE: TUESDAY, April 9, 1991                   TAG: 9104090174
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PEARISBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

GILES JURY FINDS KEITH HALL GUILTY IN ARMED ROBBERY OF PHARMACY

Hall, 30, faces up to 25 years for robbery and two years for use of a firearm. His sentencing will be set next month.

"An armed robbery is fraught with peril," Commonwealth's Attorney James Hartley said, cocking the hammer on the gun Hall had used. "It's a very dangerous situation."

The case revolved around the credibility of witnesses, Hartley said in his closing argument in the trial's second day. He urged the jury to use common sense and find Hall.

Pharmacist Richard Scott Flaggs testified Friday that Hall jumped over the pharmacy counter at the Pearisburg drug store one day last July, pointed a .22-caliber pistol at him and cocked the hammer.

Hall threatened to shoot if he didn't get what he wanted, Flaggs said. Hall rattled off a list of medications - Percodan, Percocet, Demerol and Mepergan-Fortis - gave Flaggs a plastic grocery bag and told him to put the drugs in the bag, he said.

Flaggs was consistent in his description of Hall and the gun, Hartley said. The western-style gun Flaggs had described was found by police at Hall's home in Pulaski. "That is more than just coincidence," Hartley said.

However, Hall and his girlfriend, Dee Dee Brinkley, and a friend, Jeannette Davis, all testified that Hall had spent the day of the holdup at a cookout in Pulaski. The three said they were at the party from noon until 7 p.m. The robbery occurred about 4:30 p.m.

Hartley disputed the alibi, saying nothing about Hall's defense was credible.

No one could remember any details about the cookout, Hartley said, and the host, David Whittaker, didn't testify.

Defense attorney Garland Spangler said there were a lot of conflicts in the testimony.

Flaggs could not fully describe the color of the plastic bag Hall had used or the color of his eyes, Spangler said. There were no fingerprints on the gun or on a bag found in Hall's home.

Spangler reminded the jury of witness Anna Medley, who testified Friday that a man wearing a bandana and hat had nearly knocked her down as she tried to enter the Rite-Aid on the day of the robbery. She was certain the man was not Hall.

Those discrepancies were enough to establish reasonable doubt about the identity of the robber, Spangler said.