Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 1, 1993 TAG: 9305010045
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LON WAGNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That's what the 12-person jury recommended that Kingery, of Grandin Road in Roanoke, should get for two days of shoplifting at the One Stop Shop on U.S. 220 near Rocky Mount.
The store's management and Franklin County prosecutor Cliff Hapgood had some solid evidence to back up their allegations. The store videotaped Kingery stuffing cartons of cigarettes into his coat
"The videotape was the whole case," Hapgood said. Hapgood played and commented on the videotape for more than an hour and a half during Kingery's trial Friday morning.
"I just told them they should consider how we felt about people coming in and stealing things like cigarettes," Hapgood said.
The jury apparently didn't approve of the practice - it took just 16 minutes to find Kingery guilty and recommend the 22-year sentence.
"I don't know what to say, to be honest," said Bruce Flora, Kingery's attorney. "It seems rather stiff."
Flora said his client requested that a jury hear the case. With the videotape as evidence, the only argument left to Flora was to try to convince the jury that Kingery had taken only enough cigarettes to merit a petty larceny conviction.
Virginia law, however, allows a grand larceny conviction - a felony that can bring up to 20 years - if more than $200 in merchandise is stolen.
With the cost of cigarettes continuing to climb, the 18 cartons the jury counted Kingery taking on Dec. 13 last year were worth $276.30. The 14 cartons of Marlboros and Winstons the jury watched him take the next day - at $15.35 per carton - were worth $214.90.
The jury set the sentence at 12 years for the first day and at 10 years for the second day.
"I guess we picked a conservative jury," Flora said. Judge B.A. Davis III will decide whether to uphold the jury's recommendation.
Two of Kingery's friends also were charged. Lawrence Elliott Roberts, of Blanton Avenue in Roanoke, was found guilty of two counts of grand larceny, but has not yet been sentenced.
Ernest F. Hodges Jr., 44, of Courtland Road, Roanoke, was supposed to have been tried Tuesday.
But Hodges didn't show up for his trial.
Kingery also faces a petty larceny charge for four cartons of cigarettes that disappeared from the store Dec. 12. But Hapgood said 22 years is probably enough.
"I don't feel like they will be prosecuting the misdemeanor on the 22-year case," he said.
by CNB