Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 2, 1992 TAG: 9203020249
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Franklin County Commonwealth's Attorney Cliff Hapgood, Hapgood acting as special prosecutor in the case, said last week he plans to take a manslaughter charge against Shires to the Botetourt County grand jury that meets today.
Hapgood presented the case to the last grand jury in Botetourt, but the panel declined to charge Shires when it met in early December.
Shires, who had been on suspension from the Sheriff's Department since the Oct. 24 shooting, was reinstated as a road deputy when the grand jury cleared him. He has been working since then. However, Hapgood said he would pursue a charge against Shires anyway, an option prosecutors can exercise when a grand jury does not return an indictment. Membership of the Botetourt grand jury changes every three months.
Hapgood has not said what evidence is compelling him to take the case before a second grand jury. State police investigated the shooting and prepared a report before the December grand jury. Findings of the state police report have not been released.
Shires shot and killed Terry Ricardo Smith of Staunton shortly after Smith robbed a small grocery store in Buchanan. Smith did not have a gun and was fleeing Shires when shot. The fatal bullet struck him in the back of the head.
Those factors raised questions about whether the shooting was justifiable and led to the state police probe and Hapgood's decision to pursue a manslaughter charge against Shires.
Hapgood was appointed special prosecutor after then-Botetourt Commonwealth's Attorney Buck Heartwell removed himself from the case because of his close professional ties with the Sheriff's Department and Shires.
Meanwhile, Shires also faces an FBI inquiry into possible criminal civil-rights violations in connection with the fatal shooting. Shires is white. Smith was black. It is expected to be several more months before the FBI completes its inquiry.
Botetourt Sheriff Reed Kelly would not say whether he will suspend Shires a second time if today's grand jury indicts him. "I guess we'll deal with an indictment if and when it comes down," he said.
by CNB