Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 9, 1993 TAG: 9304090293
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
X-RAY PRESIDENT CLEARED
David Hutchens, president of H&H X-Ray of Roanoke, was acquitted Thursday of charges that he was involved in an X-ray film-for-cash scheme with the former head of Radford Community Hospital's radiology department.It took the jury less than two hours to clear Hutchens.
"We felt the commonwealth's evidence was not sufficient," said jury foreman Jim Graham, moments after the jury found Hutchens not guilty of 32 counts of grand larceny and one count of conspiracy to commit the crimes.
Hutchens, 47, was tried this week on charges that he stole more than $300,000 in X-ray film from the hospital over a three-year period through an arrangement with Paul Turpin.
"Great! Great!," Hutchens said a few moments after the verdict, thanking his family, lawyers and business associates who stood behind him.
Turpin, who pleaded guilty last year, will be sentenced later this year, Commonwealth's Attorney Randal Duncan said.
"They made the decision they thought was right," Duncan said of the jury.
"I regret that Mr. Turpin will be the only one carrying the burden," of a conviction in the case, Duncan said. "The cash had to be coming from somewhere."
Turpin said Hutchens suggested the thefts as a way for Turpin to pay back money he owed Hutchens.
But the jury foreman said Turpin was not a credible witness because he had given authorities several statements with different details, such as the amount of money he received.
Hutchens was able to counter all the charges against him, the foreman said, with very detailed evidence.
Hutchens, who testified for about three hours Thursday, had alibi witnesses or receipts that he said showed he was in other parts of Virginia or other states on the dates listed on the 33 grand larceny indictments.
Circuit Judge Duane Mink dismissed one of the grand larceny indictments before it got to the jury, saying there had been no evidence to support the charge.
Hutchens told the jury that he may have received X-ray film from Turpin, but it was payment for a computer system and office equipment H&H provided the radiology department.
The equipment cost about $22,000, Hutchens said, about the same amount Turpin first confessed to stealing from the hospital.
Hutchens also said hospital records showing film shortages were flawed because they did not take into account waste film that had been discarded into scrap barrels.
Hutchens said he lost about $2 million in sales as a result of the charges he faced.