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

DATE: THURSDAY, May 6, 1993                   TAG: 9305060196
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LON WAGNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

PERJURY CHARGE WILL BE DROPPED

A perjury charge against Kenneth "Smiley" Worley, a cousin of the man convicted of second-degree murder in the killing of an 81-year-old Franklin County widow, will be dropped, Commonwealth Attorney Cliff Hapgood said.

Because of questions about Virginia's perjury laws, Hapgood said he will ask the court not to prosecute Worley.

But Hapgood said he may try later to re-indict Worley - if he can get the law clarified.

Worley was accused of lying to the court in an attempt to get DeHart's conviction overturned.

Shortly before DeHart was sentenced to 27 years in prison for the 1991 murder of Effie Rakes, Worley claimed the jury had a pretrial bias against his cousin.

Sentencing was delayed until a judge could investigate Worley's claim that a juror had told him DeHart would be "going down the road for a long time."

Worley repeated the claim in November in front of several lawyers and reporters during Judge Samuel Hairston's investigation.

The juror alleged to have made the remark testified that he didn't know Worley, and that he never made the statement.

Hapgood has asked other Virginia prosecutors for their opinion on the law.

At issue is whether the alleged perjury took place in front of Hairston, the attorney and the reporters; or if it took place when Worley first made the allegation to DeHart's attorney.

To be charged with perjury, a person has to have lied in the presence of two or more people, Hapgood said.

by CNB