SECOND JURY CONVICTS MAN OF BREAK-IN TRY

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

DATE: THURSDAY, January 30, 1992                   TAG: 9201300166
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
SECOND JURY CONVICTS MAN OF BREAK-IN TRY
A second Montgomery County Circuit Court jury has convicted a Christiansburg man of attempted breaking and entering.
A mistrial had been declared in October after a jury came back with several questions that were ruled outside the evidence it was to consider, attorneys said.
Larry Oakley Martin, 35, of Christiansburg was convicted Wednesday of attempting to break into Junction Express on Virginia 114 on May 27, 1991.
The jury recommended a three-year prison term, and Judge Kenneth Devore imposed the sentence - overruling defense attorney Helen Bishop's motions to set aside the verdict or to suspend a portion of the sentence.
Bishop said she will appeal. She took issue with what she called insufficient dog-tracking evidence and objected to Montgomery County Deputy Jeff Spooner's qualifications as an expert handler of a tracking dog.
Spooner, the Sheriff's Department trained canine handler, testified that his dog, Kitt, tracked a scent from the back door of the convenience store to a wooded area. The dog stoped about 18 inches from Martin, who was lying on the ground covered in brush and vegetation.
Martin appeared unsteady on his feet and told Spooner he'd been passed out for three hours, Spooner testified.
Ed Tickle, who manages the store, testified that someone woke him about 2 a.m. and told him two people were trying to break into the store across the road from his house. Tickle said there was a dusk-to-dawn light at the store and he saw two people trying to pry the door open with a bar.
One person was wearing blue jeans, a T-shirt and ball cap, Tickle said. The other was wearing long johns over his head. When a sheriff's deputy arrived, the one wearing long johns ran to a truck and drove away, while the other person ran behind the store, Tickle said.
The deputy, Sgt. Billy Wiatt, pursued the truck and then returned to the area, calling Spooner to bring the dog, Tickle said.
Bishop took issue with Tickle's testimony that he does not wear or need glasses, saying a report by Wiatt said Tickle could not write his statement because he didn't have his glasses with him.
Her attempt to use Tickle's statement as evidence was overruled because it was part of a report filed by the deputy and not signed by Tickle.
Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Keith asked the jury to use common sense in deciding whether a crime had been committed by Martin. What else would someone be doing at the back door of a closed store at 2 a.m., and why would Martin be covered up with brush in the woods? he asked.
Bishop told the jury there was reasonable doubt, keying on the hour that elapsed between the attempted break-in and when Martin was found.
She said no pry bar was found at the store or near Martin. The dog picked one scent and tracked it, she said. Simply having been in the vicinity and passing out in the woods did not mean her client was guilty, Bishop said.
Keith countered that Tickle's description of the man he saw at the store's door matched Spooner's description of what Martin was wearing.
Martin did not testify and no defense evidence was put before the jury. The jury deliberated about 30 minutes.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB