Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 24, 1993 TAG: 9304240192
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Following nearly eight hours of testimony by 23 witnesses, Circuit Judge Kenneth Devore said he had heard no evidence that Bolen was aware of the provisions of the state's conflict-of-interest law or had intended to violate them.
Bolen was indicted in September on five misdemeanor charges of violating the conflict law and a related felony charge of trying to obtain money under false pretenses.
Technically, Bolen had violated the law as shown by even his own testimony, Devore said. But Virginia law says that a person has to knowingly violate the law to be found guilty.
"I cannot find from this evidence any intent or knowledge to violate the statute," said Devore, who heard the case after Bolen waived his right to a jury.
Evidence also was lacking, Devore said, that Bolen had profited from his actions or that the county had lost money because of them.
It was clear, however, that the judge was not happy with what he had heard.
"Mr. Bolen, on your part, I find a lot of bad, bad judgment," Devore told the defendant. But the judge said, "I cannot convict Mr. Bolen of these criminal charges for using bad judgment."
Devore told Bolen that he thinks Bolen knew it was wrong to do the repair work at his garage.
Bolen had testified that he had concerns about working on county vehicles at the garage because of the way it would appear to the public, but Bolen said he did not connect his concern to possible violations of the state's conflict law.
Bolen, who was chief deputy from Jan. 1, 1992, until his indictment, testified that he stopped all repair work as soon as he learned from Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Keith last May that it might violate conflict law.
Devore's "not guilty" ruling brought smiles and sighs of relief from Bolen's family and a dozen friends who had supported him with their presence throughout the day.
Bolen said the verdict shows there's room in society for poor judgment. He will learn from his first and "hopefully last" experience on the other side in the courtroom, the former law officer said.
Bolen, who was fired by Sheriff Ken Phipps from his $38,000-a-year county job when he was indicted, said he's now free to move forward with the rest of his life. He's no longer in the garage business and has no plans to return, but he still teaches law-enforcement courses part-time at New River Community College and is a major in the Army Reserve.
In 1991, Bolen was refused a leave of absence by the state police to run for sheriff in Montgomery County; and later Republicans picked Phipps, a retired trooper, to run. Bolen said he still might run for sheriff someday.
Friday was the second time in less than a month that a public official in Western Virginia has escaped the penalties of the state conflict law because he claimed he had violated it unwittingly.
Earlier this month, a special prosecutor investigating the involvement of Salem Mayor Jim Taliaferro in a land swap decided not to bring the mayor to trial because he lacked the evidence to show that Taliaferro knew he was violating the conflict law.
The Virginia conflict law provides an exception to the general rule that ignorance of the law is no defense in a criminal case.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.