Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 24, 1992 TAG: 9203240232
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Medium
But that punishment - commitment to a juvenile facility for a maximum of just more than five years, until she is 21 - has the Giles County assistant prosecutor calling for greater leeway in sentencing juveniles who have committed particularly serious or brutal crimes.
Richard Chidester, assistant Giles County commonwealth's attorney, expressed frustration at juvenile sentencing restrictions and said the teen-ager had not gotten what she deserved.
Chidester said it was frustrating to have a very serious crime committed against "two innocent people who were minding their own business . . . and you don't have a lot you can do with the defendant."
Riggs, who was 14 at the time last June's murders, could be released from the juvenile facility before she is 21. But because she could not be prosecuted as an adult under state law, she can't be held after she turns 21.
Chidester said he would like to see more sentencing alternatives for juveniles convicted of serious crimes. For example, Chidester said, he would be more comfortable with guidelines that would allow authorities to continue to hold a juvenile offender who reaches 21 but is still determined to be a danger to the community.
"When she turns 21, she's gone. She's out, absolutely out."
Chidester said statistics show the number of juveniles committing crimes is increasing "because there's nothing you can do with them."
Chidester expects change in juvenile sentencing laws is "something you're going to see more of a push for" by the Virginia state Commonwealth's Attorneys Association.
The bodies of Lee Hutchison, 62, and his wife, Shirley, 57, were found by sheriff's deputies on June 3, a Monday. Each had been shot once in the chest with a .357-caliber handgun. Authorities believe they were shot sometime that weekend.
Riggs pleaded not guilty last month but was found "not innocent" of capital murder, first-degree murder and two counts of use of a firearm in commission of a felony.
Calling the Hutchisons' slayings an impulsive act and "an anomaly" in Giles County, he said violent teenage crime is more prevalent in urban areas, where young teen-agers are used in drug deals and other crimes exactly because the people behind the crimes know the youths will not receive prison time.
Riggs has been held in a juvenile detention home in Christiansburg since her arrest last June. Now, she will be taken to the Bon Air Learning Center in Chesterfield County for diagnostic testing before being placed in one of the state's juvenile detention facilities, Chidester said.
The sentence was imposed by Judge Patrick Graybeal in a brief hearing in a private courtroom of Giles County Juvenile and Domestic Relations court.
Monday, Chidester said the judge could not have imposed a stricter sentence. Under juvenile sentencing guidelines, the "court doesn't have authority to sentence for a specific period," he said.
Chidester said in February that a motive for the killings was speculative, but that the girl had taken a handgun from a relative's house, then later went to the Hutchison home to seek a ride into town. Chidester said there may have been a struggle for the gun or for car keys.
Several people believe Riggs was mad at a boyfriend and wanting to confront him. Neighbors of the Hutchisons have said the girl sometimes came around trying to bum a ride to Pearisburg.
Chidester and other authorities have not released the girl's name, but her identity is widely known in the Giles community and has been used by the media.
Judge Graybeal denied a motion by Chidester to make Riggs' name public, saying it was not in the public interest, that the legislature had established the laws to protect youthful offenders and that the news media had already made the name widely known.
Chidester had made the motion during Riggs' trial. Monday, he reiterated his belief that the public has the right to know the girls' identity.
"Potentially you have somebody that could be released for Youth and Family Services within 12 months," he said.
by CNB