ROBBERY JURY SETS 65 YEARS

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

DATE: THURSDAY, April 8, 1993                   TAG: 9304080230
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
ROBBERY JURY SETS 65 YEARS
A Roanoke County jury on Wednesday set a 65-year prison sentence for a Roanoke man convicted of two convenience-store robberies last summer.
The jury found James Manuel Bivins, 30, of Staunton Avenue Northwest guilty of Aug. 22 robberies at a 7-Eleven store on Electric Road and an Orange Market on Peters Creek Road.
His attorney, John Gregory, asked Circuit Judge G.O. Clemens to set aside the jury sentence. The judge took the motion under advisement until a May 26 hearing.
Clerks from both stores testified that Bivins was the man who walked in and grabbed the change drawers from the cash registers, according to Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Leach.
One clerk testified that Bivins threatened him with a knife, Leach said.
Bivins was arrested later that morning in a car that matched the description provided by one clerk. Bivins was carrying $65, most of it in $1 bills and change, Leach said.
The driver of the car, Samuel Linzie Eubanks, 25, of Tampa Drive Northwest, has been convicted of being an accessory after the fact. He was released in February for time served.
Bivins faces at least one additional robbery charge in Roanoke Circuit Court, Leach said.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB